


to have met you, who is a blessing

by Dreams, peachenhun



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: College!AU, Depression, Detective!AU, M/M, Minor Character Death, Sehun-centric, anxiety themes, graphic description of a panic attack, platonic sekai
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-10
Updated: 2017-04-10
Packaged: 2018-10-17 07:55:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 24,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10589706
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dreams/pseuds/Dreams, https://archiveofourown.org/users/peachenhun/pseuds/peachenhun
Summary: Oh Sehun, boy genius, has somehow made it to college, found himself a best friend and opened a very lucrative detective bussiness. He lives peacefully skipping class and interacting with people not-Jongin as little as possible. Until one day, he stumbles into Kim Jongdae, whose brother has just been murdered. There's something about Jongdae that prompts Sehun to make the switch between finding lost bags and solving bake sale mysteries to catching killers and going against corrupt police officers.This is a story about how life stops happening to Oh Sehun and Oh Sehun starts happening to life.





	

**Author's Note:**

> writing this fic was really special to me and i hope you enjoy reading it! i want to thank the prompter for such an inspiring promp! i hope i met your expectations <3 and i'd like to thank the mods of this fest in particular, for being such kind, patient people and taking on the responsability of organazing the fest and dealing with people like me >.< thank you, you are the real mvps here!! <3 <3 <3

**Nini:**

_new body_ _gonna be l8_

**You:**

_k_ _got a case anyway_ _want me to pick u up w takeout?_

**Nini:**

_yes plz ilu_

Sehun rolls his eyes fondly and pockets his phone. Almost a year after, he still wonders how he managed to score a friend as ridiculously low maintenance as Jongin.

With a sigh, he lets his eyes lazily roam the library, searching for his latest client. He spots her towards the back, lively chatting with her friends. He walks over to them, expertly maneuvering through the mess of tables and bookshelves and procrastinating students. Once beside her, he awkwardly clears his throat.

“Oh! Hi, Sehun oppa!” Suhyun exclaims once she spots him, with a smile and a little wave.

Suhyun is sweet and he really does like her, she’s just a little bit – _too much_ for him sometimes. Which is to say all day, every day.

He bravely attempts to smile back and fails miserably. Suhyun, bless her heart, doesn’t comment on it. “Here’s your book,” he says finally, setting the heavy Art History textbook in front of the girl. “Son Hyunseok had it, though I couldn’t make him say why. You might wanna look into it.”

Suhyun smiles wider, putting the book in her bag. “Thank you so much, oppa! How much do I owe you?” She asks.

“It took a day’s work so ₩20000,” he answers, trying to ignore Suhyun’s friends, who are most certainly gossiping about him.

“Here,” the girl says brightly, handing him the money. “Thanks again, oppa.”

“Yeah, uh, you’re welcome.” He nods stiffly as he takes the money, before awkwardly shuffling away.

He can only hope to God that Suhyun doesn’t have a crush on him.

 

 

xxXxx

 

 

“My brother was just murdered! You do not get to tell to calm down. Chief-Shnief, I don’t care what you are!”

The loud voice startles Sehun away from his phone. It’s coming from a guy about his age (shorter than him, though, Sehun can’t help but notice), who has the cutest frown Sehun has ever seen. He seems to be trying to get information out of Superintendent Ahn.

Sehun chuckles quietly, gaze drifting to the pizza box on the seat beside him.

_That guy has better luck making rocks bleed._

“ _Jongdae_ ,” Ahn warns, voice stern.

Sehun eyes flicker over to _Jongdae_ trying to gauge his reaction. Ahn is intimidating by nature, but when he puts on the voice he’s pretty much unbearable. Jongdae, however, doesn’t appear to be affected. Sehun’s eyebrows fly to his hairline, impressed. If that was him he’d be hiding in the bathroom yesterday.

“Yup, that’s me.”

_Cocky_ , Sehun thinks as an amused smirk tugs at his lips.

Superintendent Ahn narrows his eyes at Jongdae and the latter raises an eyebrow in challenge.

The tension is so thick you’d need a chainsaw to cut through it.

Sehun swallows uneasily, his eyes shifting back and forth between the two. He has never seen Ahn’s face turn so red before.

The Superintendent opens his mouth to finally retort only to be interrupted by his second in command, Senior Inspector Im.

“Sir, it’s almost time,” The SI says, a brown envelope in hand.

Ahn snaps his mouth shut and glances at Im out of the corner of his eye. He glares at Jongdae, gritting his teeth in annoyance before pointing at him with a long, thin finger. “I better not hear a word about you bothering my boys, brat. If there’s any news we’ll call you, until then don’t you dare show your face around here.” With that he turns around and stalks down the hallway, Im following close behind.

_What was so important he let the guy get away with disrespecting him?_   Sehun wonders.

Meanwhile, Jongdae is left frozen in the middle of the lobby, his hands balling into fists. His eyes are squeezed shut and Sehun guesses he’s trying not to cry. He debates with himself on whether to say something or just stay put, but Jongdae makes the choice for him when he punches the air in anger, muttering what sounds a lot like “motherfucker” under his breath.

Sehun snorts unattractively. “Tell me about it,” he remarks, almost against his will.

The other guy whips around to stare at him and Sehun feels himself go cold.

“Who are you?” Jongdae asks brusquely, that cute little frown on his brow and unshed angry tears in his eyes.

“I, uh, well– “

“Wait, you’re that genius kid, aren’t you?” Jongdae interrupts him, rudely pointing at him. “The one who goes around finding shit for money?”

Sehun feels his mouth go dry under Jongdae’s intense gaze. “Y-yup. That’s me. I find shit. For money.”

Jongdae looks befuddled by his answer. He recovers quickly though, letting out a breath while a sweet half smile softens his features and illuminates his eyes, making them look like a pair of twinkling stars.

Or maybe Sehun’s just biased.

“Chanyeol did say you were kinda awkward,” the shorter one remarks teasingly, kinda friendly.

At least he thinks so. _How do you read body language, again?_

“Chanyeol?” Sehun repeats slowly. “You mean Park Chanyeol?”

Jongdae‘s smile widens. “Yeah, him. He’s one of my best friends. I remember you helped him find his pet ferret.”

Sehun swallows hard, too bamboozled by Jongdae’s bright, beautiful ( _gorgeous, marvelous, wonderful_ ) smile to reply. He’s aware he’s just openly staring at Jongdae, without saying anything. He’s also aware that that’s a really rude thing to do, but hot guys never give Sehun the time of day and now there’s one actually _talking_ to him, so really, who can blame him?

Jongdae’s cute, little chuckle brings him back to Earth. “You’re so cute, Sehunnie.” So, his heart just crashed through the roof. _Nice_. “No wonder half the freshmen class has a crush on you.”

That catches his attention. “Wait, what? Crush on me? The freshmen? Wha—?”

“Yeah. They get together at the library just gush about you. Believe me, I work there,” Jongdae says with a breathless laugh.

_Is this what angels sound like?_

“Are you sure they’re talking about me? I’m pretty sure there’s another Oh Sehun in campus,” he insists.

And this Jongdae dude must really be out to kill him because instead of answering with a “yeah, totally,” or a “yes, really, you dumbass,” he fucking purses his lips in the cutest way possible and nods, eyes closed, looking very serious. If he were to search “adorable” on Google Images he’s pretty sure that’s the only picture he’d find.

But since Gods don’t actually walk among humans, Jongdae looks really embarrassed after. A nervous little giggle leaving his lips as he looks down, cheeks a pretty pink.

Sehun blushes, too, though he can’t bring himself to look away. The right corner of his mouth pulls upwards.

“You are really cute, too, you know. Way cuter than me,” he says, too flat to be anything but painfully honest.

_Will you ever learn to properly intone, Oh Sehun?_

Jongdae’s head snaps up. “Thanks.” His voice is ever so gentle and Sehun feels like his insides just won Gold in Gymnastics.

“Sehun-ah! Tell me you got anchovies, I’m starving!” Jongin exclaims, startling them both.

_Great timing, Jongin._

“Oh, I’m sorry!” Jongin stops abruptly, having just noticed Jongdae. He bows politely, turning to give Sehun a questioning look immediately after.

Sehun, however, is too scattered to articulate an answer so he just shrugs helplessly.

Jongdae, probably sensing the tension, clears his throat and says, “I should go. It was nice meeting you, Sehun-ah.” With that he turns to leave.

A strange bout of anxiety spreads across Sehun’s body at the sight of Jongdae’s retreating back. “Wait!” He exclaims, abruptly standing up.

Jongdae, already halfway across the lobby, whips around to look at him. “What is it? Is something wrong?” He asks, forehead creased in concern.

With long strides, Sehun walks over to the older student. “Jongin works with the coroner. He might have some information for you.”

“Really?” The hope lighting Jongdae’s eyes is heartbreaking.

Sehun can only nod dumbly.

“Sehun, is everything alright over there?” _Kim Jongin once again making sure Sehun doesn’t make (too much of) a fool out of himself._

Sehun looks away from Jongdae, schooling his features into his usual blank face. “Yeah, we’re fine. But we need to go to the coffee shop down the block right now,” he answers, facing his friend.

Jongin raises his eyebrows. ”Oh-kay…just the two of you or do you need me, too?”

_Where would Sehun be without Kim Jongin?_

“All three of us, c’mon.” He gestures with his head towards the exit. “Don’t forget the pizza,” he reminds his friend, watching Jongin groan and walk back to the waiting area in order to grab the food.

He purses his lips to avoid smiling.

“Just so you know, you’re paying for my coffee,” Jongin announces as soon as he’s caught up with them.

Sehun pays him no mind, instead addressing Jongdae. “This is Jongin, my best friend. He works here.”

Jongin briefly glares at him, before turning to Jongdae. “Hey, nice to meet you,” he greets with a smile and a slight nods of his head.

Jongdae nods back and tries to return the smile, though Sehun can see that he’s too anxious to. “I’m Kim Jongdae, Kim Jongdeok’s younger brother. Sehun said you can give me some information.”

Jongin’s eyes widen in recognition. “Yes, I– was just working on that case,” he confirms, looking at Sehun out the corner of his eye.

Sehun knows Jongin is probably super confused. He can wait, though. Right now, Sehun only has energy for one (1) problem at a time. He shakes his head slightly, hoping Jongin will understand him.

Thankfully, Jongin has learnt to read him like a book over their one year of friendship. “We should go,” he says to Jongdae, grabbing him by the cuff of his sleeve.

With no shame Jongin tugs Jongdae out of the door while Sehun follows behind, thoroughly amused.

Once seated at a corner table of the coffee shop, Sehun offers to go take their orders. This is mainly to let them talk in private and spare himself the awkwardness, but also so they won’t judge him when he asks for his ridiculously complicated order.

He sticks close to the counter as he waits for their drinks. He chances a glance at Jongin and Jongdae, only to see them lively chatting, instead of the somber talk he was expecting.

So much for saving himself from uncomfortable situations.

He can’t really blame Jongin for wanting the moral support, though. And honestly, if you go to a coffee shop to talk you tend to wait for your drinks to come before starting with the serious conversations.

The barista clears her throat startling him. He takes in a sudden breath, eyes wide.

She’s raising a very irritated eyebrow at him and he guesses she’s been trying to catch his attention for a while now. Sehun only gives her a quick, sheepish twist of his lips in return as he grabs their drinks and walks away as fast as he thinks he can manage without spilling their coffee. Or in this case, two hot chocolates and a _‘Sugar Monstrosity’_ as Junmyeon so eloquently put it.

Sehun can feel his stomach and the muscles of his shoulders knotting with anxiety, while the incident replays in his mind over and over. Her eyes make him feel tiny as they swim in and out of his vision, still reeling from the adrenaline rush the sound of her throat had given him.

He’s suddenly walking way too fast, but it’s too late to change pace now as he’s only a couple tables away from Jongin and Jongdae, who fortunately don’t seem to have noticed him. Or are at least pretending not to. Either way, he tries to stop as gently as possible – for the record, he mostly succeeds.

He carefully sets the cups on the table. Both Jongin and Jongdae look up from their conversation to thank him and it takes everything in him to keep his expression on the friendly side of neutral. He’s 93.5% sure his panicked eyes gave him away, regardless, but he’ll take what he can get.

With a panic attack bubbling just under his ribcage, Sehun sits down and grabs his coffee with both hands. He discreetly begins to breathe in and out deeply, focusing strictly on the lid of his cup. The words pressed into it are blurred, though, and the barista is prowling on the edges of his conscience, waiting for the moment to overtake it once again. Air goes in and out of his nostrils faster that it should be; he stops breathing all together to stop himself from hyperventilating.

A few seconds after, he slowly let’s air through his nose, painfully aware of Jongdae looking at him out of the corner of his eye and the way Jongin is pointedly _not_ looking at him.

He can’t believe he’s two steps away from a panic attack in front of a complete stranger, in the middle of a very public coffee shop. And it came out of fucking nowhere, too.

Sehun grits his teeth in frustration, while clenching and unclenching the muscle above his right knee in quick succession. He’s been blindsided and subsequently humiliated because his fucking brain decided act up.

Oh fuck – he’s angry now. Burning through a panic attack with anger is not the healthiest way to deal with it, but it has worked for him before. The problem is that, as stated above, he’s in _fucking public_ , so he can’t just go and fuck shit up or something.

And he honestly can’t bring himself to go to the bathroom or outside, either, even though he knows – _he always knows_ – it would be better for everyone involved. The mere thought of it exhausts him and makes his current position seem a 100 times more comfortable. Incredible feat considering he’s hunched over the table, chin to chest, letting blood pool in his skull, aggravating his head ache.

His vision swims and he fucking _hates_ himself.

The feeling is penetrating, it cuts through him. He’s left gasping by the realization. He knows he has depression, considers himself a Mentally Ill Mess™, but this is the first time he’s been confronted head on with the fact that he really, really fucking hates himself.

It’s daunting, to say the least.

Surprisingly, this new found awareness of his self-hate is enough to snap him out of the panic. He vaguely feels his back and shoulders relax and his legs stop moving. He’s barely conscious of doing this, too distracted by his discovery, instead.

Sehun has been stunned into a sort of numbness, the kind that comes from discovering something new and completely unexpected; like that time he realized he’d learnt to speak English.

Since he could talk, everyone who knew him could tell he was smart, brilliant even. Thing is, he was raised by a single mom working multiple jobs. This means, for starters, that he’s never had a proper diagnosis for any learning or attention disorders that he _knows_ he has, because there was no money for a therapist and he’s also fucking scared of them, anyway, thanks to the multiple, ridiculously invasive interviews with the school counselor his teachers decided to put him through back in elementary school.

So yeah, he’s a depressed, anxiety ridden college student with a phobia of therapists and contempt for authority figures in general, who has never attended a cram school in his life, absolutely self-taught with only a growing concept of time management (thanks again to Kim Jongin, Lifesaver™) and who accepted a scholarship to a fancy private high school only because he’d found out CSATs were a thing the same week the offer was made. So yeah, a _mess_.

This also means he’s never taken an English class in his life, besides the ones provided by the school, which is to say he hasn’t taken a single English class in his whole life. Not only because English was his nap time, but also because no one actually learns shit in those classes. No matter how expensive the tuition.

Anyway, back to main point. One day, little 13 year old Sehun was chilling after school, his dinasour of a laptop on his chest, browsing through National Geographic, reading the latest on Weaver Ants when he realized the article was in English. There was 13 year old Oh Sehun, Mr. Never Took An English Class In His Life, reading a National Geographic article on fucking ants littered with technical language and poetics on ant colonies, written in English and _he understood every word_.

Sure, it sounds pretty fucking dumb, but that made him stop. Double check just in case that the article was, in fact, written in English. And it was and Sehun knew English, apparently.

The funny thing about these big, life changing epiphanies is that you can’t actually tell when they happen. There’s no light bulb lighting up above your head, or a golden, glittery beam shining on you from the sky. There comes one day where you just notice, where your brain decides to make you aware of the fact and you can never go back. Once it sinks in you can never again remember how it felt before. Your outlook on life has been irrevocably shifted and you didn’t even notice.

That’s how Sehun feels now. He’s been depressed for at least six years and counting, but never has he sat down and said ‘I hate myself’ and fully understood what it meant. Until now.

He suddenly despises all those depression memes.

The knowledge weights down on him and he can’t do more than stare down at the table, lost. He is startled out his reverie when Jongin discreetly delivers a gentle kick to his ankle. With much effort, Sehun manages not to outright jump out of his sit. He briefly wonders what the hell Jongin could want right now and he gets his answer when Jongin speaks.

“So, hyung.” Right. They’re here for a reason. And whenever did Jongin get permission to call Jongdae hyung? “Do you want me to tell you what I know now?”

As not-there as his mind is, Sehun can still feel how the mood instantly shifts. He sees the tail end of a cheery expression in Jongdae’s face turn into a dull one and he feels irrational anger at Jongin for causing Jongdae pain.

“Now or never, I guess,” Jongdae jokes, his lips managing only a grimace.

Sehun has turned his full attention to the conversation now, his eyes fixing on the little upwards curls at the corner of Jongdae’s mouth. The whole ‘I absolutely despise myself and just realized it’ thing has been pushed to the back of his mind, too distracted by the cute guy in front of him. Seriously, though, he didn’t know chapped lips could be so hot.

“Right,” Jongin begins, making Sehun turn to him. He knows Jongin saw him by the way his shoulders un-tense slightly. “So Kim Jongdeok was found on an alley, about two blocks down from the police station.” The drastic change from friendly, laidback Jongin into serious, professional Jongin never fails to amaze him. “He received several stab wounds to the torso, one through the heart which killed him very shortly after. There are no defensive wounds; it seems he knew his assailant and/or was easy to overpower. We’ll know if he was drugged or something once we get the toxicology exam.”

“Was he killed in the alley?” Jongdae asks in a trembling voice. Sehun’s gaze drifts back to him. Jongdae’s eyes are downcast and his knuckles have turned white from how hard he’s gripping the cuffs of his hoodie.

Jongin takes in a deep breath. “No,” he says and makes a small pause, “the CSIs said there’s barely any blood in the alley; they believe it to be a dump site. Jongdeok was still in his work clothes when he was murdered, so the Inspector working the case thinks he was jumped after leaving work.”

Jongdae clenches his jaw. “He’d just started that job, you know. He was barely on his third week. I– “ He cuts himself off with a sob and Sehun turns to Jongin urging him to do something.

Jongin just stares back alarmed, seemingly as lost as him.

Turns out none of them had to do anything, because not ten seconds after Jongdae excuses himself and power walks to the bathroom, one sweater paw covering his mouth, the other hugging his middle.

Both Sehun and Jongin stare at him until he goes out of sight, which is when an awkward silence settles over them.

“You should go after him,” Jongin says finally.

Sehun’s head spins around so fast his neck cracks (pretty loudly if Jongin’s wince is anything to go by. Maybe he _should_ buy that orthopedic pillow).

“The fuck you mean, Jongin?” His words are harsh, but have no bite to them, tinted more with disbelief than anything else.

“Go comfort him,” Jongin insists, looking at him like he’s dumb.

Which he is not, thank you very much. Okay maybe he _is_ a little slow on this whole human relations thing, but it’s not dumb or outrageous for him to think that Jongin is completely insane for suggesting that he go comfort a (gorgeous) dude who just had his brother murdered, given that he is, in fact, a little slow on this whole human relations thing.

“ _You_ are the people person, Jongin. I’m the leave-me-alone-unless-you’re-paying me person, in case you’ve forgotten.” Now _this_ did come out a bit bitchy. In his defense, Jongin of all people shouldn’t be trying to force him into interactions that are going to be painfully awkward and just plain awful for him and everyone involved. Especially now that the hypothetical interaction at hand implies a 99.9% possibility of Sehun upsetting a _grieving_ guy even more.

Jongin, however, is not at all affected by his sharp tone. “Sehun, Jongdae hyung kept looking at you while you were at the counter. He could barely keep his eyes off of you. He seems to be way more comfortable with you. Go talk to him.”

Sehun is shocked at this revelation, to say the least. He is not a likeable person, literally no one ever has chosen him over Jongin before and honestly, he doubts Jongdae actually likes him better.

Still, “Jongin, I just narrowly avoided a pretty nasty panic attack.” Sehun can barely look at Jongin as he says this, too ashamed. Although he can tell Jongin immediately deflates at his words. “I even had an epiphany and stuff,” he mumbles playing with his friend’s fingers. “Are you sure you want me to go after him?”

Jongin takes his hand and squeezes it. “Sehun-ah, look at me.”

Sehun swallows, briefly flicking his eyes up. Jongin’s looking at him with the softest, fondest expression and _fuck_ , what Sehun wouldn’t give to fall in love with him. Jongin’s a little in love with everyone already, it could work out.

”That’s why I think you should go. You’re the one who knows all about unhealthy coping mechanisms and panic attacks and anxiety. I only know what I need to know to take care of you, but that pretty much only happened because you opened up to me and told me how.” Jongin takes Sehun’s hand with both of his. “Sehunnie, he’s not going to open up to me, the guy who literally just relayed in cold, hard facts the details of his brother’s murder. The same one who, as far as he knows, didn’t do shit when his best friend was two steps away from self-harm.”

“That’s not–, you did exactly what I needed, Nini.” He sounds so small, even to his own ears.

Jongin nods, a wide, crinkly smile on his face. “I know,” he says around a laugh _and are those tears in his eyes?_ “But it’s not like we had the chance to explain our very specific dynamic to him. He’s not gonna trust me, Sehun, but I don’t want him to bawl his eyes out in a bathroom stall all alone, either.”

“I hate it when you use the puppy voice on me.” Sehun pouts. “I’m not a puppy.”

This pulls a loud, startled laugh out Jongin. “Liar,” he accuses. “You love it, it reminds you of your mom. You should call her, by the way,” he adds giving Sehun the stink eye.

“I’ve been busy,” he whines.

Jongin scoffs. “It’s your mom!”

Sehun feels himself smile. “Yeah, I guess. I have stuff to do, though,” he announces, standing abruptly. Before he can talk himself out of it, he marches over to the bathroom.

He loses steam once he’s right inside the door though, but at least he’s made it to his destination.

There’s faint noises coming from the stall furthest from the door and Sehun knows it can’t be anyone but Jongdae, what with the coffee shop being empty and all.

He has absolutely no idea what to do now. Is he supposed to lure Jongdae out? Crash into the stall and passionately hug him like in the dramas?

He’s not sure Jongdae would appreciate being manhandled by a complete stranger. Or at all. Actually, he really knows noting about him. Except that his brother was just murdered and he’s really hot and cute. He can somehow look Ahn in the eye and survive. And he’s also friends with one of his former clients…

_Oh Sehun, you are indeed a genius._

He takes a deep breath and begins to tiptoe towards the opposite wall. Once there, he settles down on the floor, as close to Jongdae’s door as he dares.

Jongdae has quieted down significantly, only letting out the occasional sob, certainly aware that he’s not alone anymore.

“How did Chanyeol lose Ddori anyway?” Sehun asks, as casually as possible.

The sounds stop completely.

“Wh-what?” Jongdae’s voice is hoarse from crying.

“How did Chanyeol lose his ferret? I thought it stayed with his mother,” he repeats.

“O-oh, uh, well Baekhyun really likes Ddori, so he convinced Chanyeol to take him to class one day so he and Baek could spend the night together. Baek’s actually pretty good with animals, so it was a cute idea, to be honest, but…”

“But?” Sehun prompts. He can’t help the smile growing on his face. He guessed Jongdae was a talker – a _blabber_ , though, that’s just too cute.

“He was distracted that night, I guess? So Baek accidentally let Ddori escape. He–” he cuts himself with a laugh– “he called me at 3 AM to help him look for the ferret. It was ridiculous! Baekhyun begged Chanyeol for a night with his pet, then went and lost it and then he calls _me_ up and more or less guilts me into going out in the middle of the night – in the middle of winter! Just to help him find that ferret.” Jongdae snorts. It shouldn’t be as endearing as it is.

_It’s a fucking snort, Sehun, get a grip._

“Poor, Ddori. He was lost for almost a week, the little thing.” Jongdae’s voice is quieter, and is now tinted with tenderness.

In the interim, Sehun’s insides have somehow turned into hot fudge.

“Why did you wait so much to hire me?” Sehun asks. This is a question that’s been bugging him ever since he got the job. Honestly, who waits 3 whole days before getting professional help to find one’s pet? And it’s not like Chanyeol didn’t know about him, Sehun clearly remembers sticking his ads all over the music building a week and a half before he was hired.

“Baekhyun,” Jongdae replies with no hesitation. “He convinced Chanyeol to wait a bit, try to lure him out with food and water. Didn’t work, obviously. It was actually my idea to hire you. Minseok hyung is apparently friends with someone who knows you and he recommended you.”

“Oh, so that’s how you recognized me. Because I worked a whole weekend with Chanyeol and I didn’t see you once.”

Jongdae laughs. “Yeah, I was actually supposed to help you deal with it, it being Chanyeol and Baekhyun mainly, but Jongdeok hyung had just gotten his Master’s and he– “ he clears his throat and stops talking.

Sehun feels anxiety once again coiling at the pit of his stomach. _Well then_. “He?” He prods, taking a chance.

He can hear the other take in a shuddering breath. “Jong–,” he cuts himself off with a sigh– “Hyung took me skiing. To the Bears Town Ski Resort.”

Sehun vaguely recognizes the name thanks to Junmyeon. “Is that the one with the night skiing?”

“Yeah,” Jongdae replies, sounding a tiny bit less sad. “It was… _breathtaking_. Even though I fell on my face at least ten times.”

An amused grin appears on Sehun’s face. “You’re not good at skiing?”

“I mean I know how to ski, I’m just– “

“Not good,” Sehun finishes for him, resisting the urge to burst out laughing.

“Yeah,” Jongdae concedes reluctantly.

“Was the track too difficult?” When he learnt to small talk Sehun doesn’t know, but damn is he proud of himself right now.

“It was an intermediate slope. And for the record I fell mostly when we went on in the morning, ‘cause I was just feeling out the slope, you know?” The older one explains.

“You did the same slope twice?”

“Well, duh. We had to feel out the slope; otherwise we would’ve fallen to our death during night time.” It makes sense and Sehun feels a little bad for not realizing it himself, but this is the first time he’s ever talked to someone about skiing. It’s honestly refreshing to talk about something he has no idea about, with someone who does. That is pretty much the basis of all his (few) friendships and acquaintanceships.

“What was it named? The Devil’s Neckbreaker or something?”

This pulls more laughter from Jongdae. It’s really easy to make him laugh. And to distract him from bad thoughts. It’s astounding how willing the mind is to be cheered up when it’s not being constantly accosted by ugly voices.

_Oh, intrusive thoughts, his dear old friends._

“No. It was called Snow Cat, actually. Jongdeok hyung couldn’t stop laughing; he even insisted we go on the slope a third time the next morning.” Sehun can _hear_ the eye roll. “He says I look like a cat and he always buys me cat related stuff, so he was unreasonably excited about that slope.” He can’t help but notice the use of present tense. He waits a few nerve-wracking seconds for Jongdae to realize. Thankfully, the other continues on normally. “We spent two whole days on the mountain. We hadn’t spent time together in a while and he…he was the one graduating and yet _he_ went and planned this trip for the two of us.”

They both go quiet for a while after that.

Sehun just stares at his hands. He briefly wonders if Jongin’s alright and he groans at the thought of how cold the pizza must’ve gotten. He hopes Jongin has enough force of will to make them reheat the pizza because he sure as hell doesn’t.

“I’m going to miss him,” Jongdae whispers.

Sehun hears him but he doesn’t know what to say. He bites his bottom lip, contemplating his options when a thought comes to him.

“I’m going to solve the case,” he announces.

Jongdae answers after a little while. “What do you mean?”

“Jongin has been stealing copies of case files and taking them back home for months. We use them to brainstorm about the cases. We’ve concluded some things that turned out to be right and I’m also a really good interrogator. We could do it.”

He _so_ could’ve been solving actual crimes this whole time, why didn’t he think of this before?

“Sehunnie, I really appreciate what you’re doing, but this is murder we’re talking about. Yeah, you somehow found Ddori, which was miraculous in of itself, because we all thought the poor thing was as good as dead, but still…” Jongdae trails off and surprisingly, Sehun doesn’t feel discouraged.

“I have an IQ of 162 and a detail oriented brain with a tendency to make relations.” That phrase, while true, is painfully rehearsed and Sehun is sure the only reason Jongdae doesn’t laugh is because he’s currently mourning. “I also have a coroner’s assistant and biology major as a best friend. I can do it.” It’s also strange how the mood and tone affect the meaning of a sentence so much. Under any other circumstance, these words would be defensive and betray just how offended he was; now they’re just earnest.

He hears a groan and a thump coming from the stall.

“Hyung, are you okay?” Sehun asks, mildly alarmed. He belatedly realizes he never actually got permission to address Jongdae that way, but he doesn’t think Jongdae will mind that much. _Right?_

“Fine!” Jongdae exclaims. “Honestly, what do I have to lose?”

Sehun can hear the other getting up. He scrambles to follow.

Finally, Jongdae opens the stall door. He looks absolutely terrible, with red, puffy eyes and tear streaks down his cheeks. His hair is all over the place, too. It makes Sehun want to pull him into a hug, he even briefly considers it. Jongdae beats him to the punch, though.

“I’ll let you investigate,” he says holding onto Sehun’s forearms. “I can’t pay right now, though.”

“You don’t have to pay me at all,” Sehun says, not a second after.

Slowly, Jongdae smiles that crinkly smile from earlier, his eyes turning into cute little slits. “I’ll pay you back, someday, I promise. But you have to promise me you’ll take care of yourself. And Jongin, too. You’re literally about to crash a murder investigation under the district of the city’s most corrupt cop.”

“He’s not that different from the others, you know. He’s just more outwardly unpleasant,” Sehun can’t help but comment.

“Still!” Jongdae whines. “You gotta take care of yourself.”

Sehun feels a wide grin spread on his face. “Okay, hyung. Now let us walk you home.”

 

 

Later, much later, when Jongin is cuddling him to sleep, he feels his friend mumble something into his neck.

“What was that?”

Jongin shifts, making some space between them, so they now lay side by side, facing each other. “I said you did great today, Sehunnie. I’m really glad that we’re doing this for Jongdae hyung and that you suggested it.”

“Do you really think we can do it?” Sehun asks, voicing his doubts.

Jongin beams at him. “Of course. You’re Oh Sehun, boy genius.”

Said genius snorts. “I guess so.”

“Can I ask you something, though? About Jongdae,” he clarifies, obviously noticing the way Sehun tensed up at the original question.

Sehun doesn’t like the direction this is going either, but at least Jongin has decided to let the whole panic-attack-in-the-middle-of-a-coffee-shop thing go for a while. He’s probably in for it tomorrow, though. For now, he says “sure. Shoot.”

“Is this gonna be one of your express, five days crushes in which you spot someone hot and nice and want to marry them and have their babies for a little while until you just don’t, or you think it could be something more serious? Keep in mind that we’re gonna be keeping in contact for the time being.”

He both loves and hates Jongin for asking all the hard questions.

“I don’t know, Nini,” he answers, doing his best to shrug while lying on his side. “’Sides, why do you want to know?”

Jongin shrugs, too, “I don’t really know, either. He’s just really nice and enjoyable company. And I guess I think he’d be good for you. You’d look cute together.”

Sehun feels his face heat up. “I guess so,” he mumbles. “Can we go to sleep now?”

Jongin chuckles. “Sure,” he says, wrapping his arms around Sehun’s middle and tucking himself under his chin.

 

 

xxXxx

 

 

10:46AM the next morning has Sehun walking down the path from his dorm to the campus coffee shop for his morning fix. The thought of stepping in there immediately brings up the events of the night before, but at least it doesn’t make him want to run and hide. He merely has to deal with some mild anxiety and feelings of embarrassment easily squashed in the warm autumn sun. It seems he has at least avoided another trauma.

_Go, Sehun!_

Another good thing is that he hasn’t seen nor heard from Jongin since the night before. Putting that conversation off for too long will only end in disaster and that’s something he has to keep in mind, but for now he’s just thankful Jongin wakes up at 7 every day to go to dance practice, while he avoids all kinds of morning activities like the plague.

He doesn’t even have a class until 12PM, so there’s no actual reason for him to be out of bed yet, but he figured taking care of business with Namjoon before class would probably put him in a better mood.

And as Sehun enters the coffee shop, there is Kim Namjoon, his informant. Also the worst barista he’s ever met. But at least Namjoon doesn’t judge _and_ he remembers the marshmallows. That and more, considering Namjoon more or less singlehandedly jumpstarted Sehun’s business, ensuring that he and Jongin stay in the category of _fed_ broke college students, as opposed to _starving_ broke college students. Really, Namjoon is the best almost friend he could’ve asked for. Tough, he’s still not sure why Namjoon is so nice to him, telling him all the shit he hears about their classmates and getting jack shit in return, and that is mildly unsettling. Sehun is almost sure it’s because of the whole “child prodigy grows into depressed teen” thing they both have going on, but _almost_ is not enough for him. Still, it’s not like he can just go up to Namjoon and ask him – well he could, but Sehun needs to keep working with him so that’s not really an option.

Before he knows it, he’s at almost at the front of the line. He has to suppress a snort when he realizes the girl in front of him is attempting to flirt with Namjoon. One would think the skirt would be enough to warn them off, but it seems heteronormativity is just That Strong.

Not particularly surprising.

Once she finally leaves he steps forward and this time he can’t keep the amused expression out of his face.

“So…” he begins, enjoying the way Namjoon’s ears turn red.

“Shut up,” the other student mutters and Sehun lets out a laugh. He actually, honest to God, laughs. If anyone asks it’s because he’s still sleepy.

Namjoon gives him a pointed glare, sobering him up real quick. He’s got a business relationship to maintain.

“Did you find out why that Hyunseok had Suhyun’s book?” He asks, watching Namjoon scribble on his cup.

“Jungkookie says he always sits behind her at this one freshman class they all share. I think that Hyunseok brat might like her but pig-tail pulling flirting is shitty at any age, so I think you should warn her off of the dude,” Namjoon answers, fingers now flying over the register.

“Sure, how do you ensure she doesn’t think I have a crush on her?” Sehun counters.

Namjoon rolls his eyes, letting out a long suffering sigh. Hands down the best part of this almost friendship is the banter.

“I’ll just have Kookie do it.” Namjoon hands him his receipt, looking tired as all hell.

“What happened to you?”

“Park just assigned us a ten page essay on _The Decameron_ due next week. I’m not even halfway through the book and I’m ahead of the reading schedule, how are we even supposed to do it?” And he certainly looks like it, as he lets his head drop forward with a groan.

Sehun settles comfortably against the counter, making the most out of the pre-lunch rush lull. “Whenever the fuck did we even move on from _The Divine Comedy_?”

Namjoon looks at him incredulous. “Like two classes ago, dude. We had to write an essay for that, too, did you even hand it in?”

“Oh.” Sehun furrows his brow, before shrugging. “Yeah, I turned it in the day after she assigned it.”

Namjoon is staring at him, gaping. “How?”

Sehun is confused for a moment, before he realizes what the other means. “Calm down, I just revamped an old essay and sent it.”

Namjoon nods slowly. “Uh-huh. You don’t happen to have one you lend me right now, do you?”

Sehun shakes his head no with an amused quirk of his lip. “You’re out of luck. But why did she assign it now, wasn’t she supposed to do it next week?”

“Fuck, if I know,” Namjoon says, taking Sehun’s drink from his coworker. He thanks the other with such an ease that it makes Sehun wonder when did their paths bifurcate and Namjoon became the “awkward genius kid with actually kinda normal social interactions” while he stayed the “awkward genius kid with no interactions”. More than anything, though, he feels jealous.

Sehun shakes his head to dispel the bad thoughts and shoves his hand in his pocket to get some money. He drops it on the counter and takes his coffee from Namjoon. “Keep the change,” he says absentmindedly, already too preoccupied with getting the lid off his cup.

“Thanks, man. Anything more you need from me?”

Sehun takes a careful sip of his drink, sighing in delight as he tastes the caramel syrup. “Yeah, heard anything new about the cake sale thinghy?”

“According to Amber noona’s girlfriend, Lee Soojin did it. Though I don’t know why a grad student would ruin the undergrad Drama Club’s bake sale,” Namjoon answers, tinkering with the register.

Sehun shrugs. “Dunno, maybe she wanted to eat some cake for free. Or she had beef with one of the members. I’ll have to ask Seolhyun if she knows anything about this Soojin person. A grad student, right?”

Namjoon merely nods, though his mood has completely shifted. He’s playing with the cups beside the register, trying to look inconspicuous but quite obviously gearing up to something.

Sehun frowns confused. _Why would Namjoon be hesitant to ask him something?_ “You got something to tell me?”

Namjoon looks up abruptly, eyes wide and kinda panicked. He opens his mouth but barely a squeak comes out.

Sehun’s frown deepens. “Namjoon, what is it with you today?”

The other student looks down, taking the time to relax his features into something less frightened.

Sehun would lie if he said he wasn’t, at least, a little bit concerned.

“Namjoo–?”

“I need a favour to ask,” Namjoon says, interrupting him.

“A paid one? Or an actual favour?” This is not the first time his informant has requested his services, but it’s certainly the first time he’s phrased it like that.

“A paid one, it’s just – it’s kind of a dangerous job.”

_Okay, now he’s confused._

Sehun takes a step back from the counter, doing his best to soften his brow. “Namjoon, did I or did I not cover for you and your boyfriend when you spray painted the Dean’s car? And I did it for free, too. You know I enjoy that kind of shit.”

Namjoon sighs, still not looking at him. “I need you to get someone expelled. Someone with a lot of money.”

“Oh.” That makes him take a pause. Sehun runs a hand through his hair. “What happened? And who can know?”

Namjoon crosses his arms over his chest. “Last Saturday there was a party at Nam Heebaek’s house, Hoseok was there, selling. This one dude was harassing him, even tried to backhug him once and you know how Hobi is – he got startled and shoved the dick off of himself; fucker ended up crashing into some furniture, so he’s pissed.”

“And is now threatening to rat Hoseok out and Yoongi wants him gone,” Sehun finishes.

Namjoon nods.

“Name?” Sehun asks, raising an eyebrow.

“Seo Jooseung.”

“That asshole?” He smirks. “Namjoon-ah, you gotta get me a case I can charge you for some time.”

Namjoon is stunned. “Wait, so you’ll do it? For free?”

Sehun’s already giddy at the prospect of getting that disgusting asshole expelled. “Of course, he’s trash. Besides, Jongin loves Hoseok and his weed and I like both. Not to mention I’m the one who helped him grow his stuff on campus, if they follow the trail they could very well find me out.”

“You know, Hobi’d never sell you out, right?” Namjoon’s looking at him all worried, but still slightly offended for his friend. This is exactly why Sehun likes him.

“I know,” he says and he believes it. It’s a weird feeling, being so sure that Hoseok wouldn’t tattle on him and it catches him a bit by surprise, considering last night’s little revelation. “But it’s partly my business, still. Either way, I just really wanna see that jerk gone. I think I might even have some dirt on him, already.”

Namjoon perks up. “Yeah?”

Sehun hums his confirmation. “If all goes like I want it to, he’ll be out by Monday.”

“That’s great, man!” The wide grin across Namjoon’s face makes him feel accomplished somehow.

Maybe he’s not _that_ bad at this whole human relations thing.

 

 

xxXxx

 

 

Sehun admires many things about Jongin. One he is most fascinated by, though, is Jongin’s ability to fall asleep anywhere. Literally.

The place Jongin has chosen for today is not even the most outrageous one yet and he’s napping under a damn tree. Like many things in life, it makes Sehun anxious. Here is his very best friend in the whole world, passed out under a fucking tree, all alone, with no protection whatsoever.

Everything within him is telling Sehun to bolt towards his friend, to make sure he’s alright and that no one hurt him or stole something from him. He has to make a conscious effort to stop this impulse reminding himself that, yes, Jongin is fine, no, no one stole from him (probably) and if someone did it’s most likely not his textbooks because they’re all hand-me-downs and people are not that heartless and okay, _yes_ , there just so happens to be an overpopulation of assholes at this school but everyone knows Jongin’s Sehun’s best friend and Sehun is enough of a threat to ensure no one hurts Jongin.

That thought is enough to reassure him that Jongin’s actually fine, don’t worry too much. He takes a deep breath, a bit of tension leaving his body.

Crisis aborted, Sehun walks the rest of the way to Jongin. And if his steps got a little quicker towards the end no one has to be the wiser.

He unceremoniously drops his bag next to Jongin’s and sits down beside his friend. He takes a minute to admire Jongin, his peaceful face and the subtle way his chest rises and falls. It’s not particularly hard to find Jongin at ease while awake, but the sheer vulnerability of sleep is something that both amazes and scares Sehun. He can’t help but find himself in awe of Jongin’s _trust_ , how he just _trusts_ nothing bad will happen to him, how he’s probably not even fully aware something bad _could_ very well happen to him. Even when Sehun has warned him of said dangers, multiple times, Jongin still fails to heed his advice, falling asleep out in the open like he’s Achilles and nothing can get to him. And that just blows Sehun’s mind because there’s no way he could ever do that.

Sehun looks away, sighing. Today has already been a confusing day, emotionally speaking, and he doesn’t want to make it worse by analyzing the deeper meaning of whatever this whole sleep thing is.

“How long have you been here?” A hoarse voice asks from below.

Sehun spasms in surprise.

Jongin laughs. “Sorry.”

Sehun takes a deep breath, before turning to face his friend. “Did you get any updates?”

Jongin nods, sitting up. “I don’t know why, though. It’s not as if someone’s dropping dead every hour in this neighborhood, but murders are pretty standard. All the tests on the dude were uploaded around one.”

Sehun cocks his head to the side, forehead creased. “Isn’t that good, though? The sooner we get the evidence, the sooner we can solve the case.”

Jongin ruffles his own hair. “Yes, but it’s really suspicious that all the evidence on a simple murder has been processed not twenty four hours later. That means someone stayed late last night with the sole purpose of getting the tests done for _that_ one case and nothing else.”

“Maybe that’s why Ahn was acting so weird yesterday,” Sehun muses.

“What do you mean?” Jongin asks, stretching his arms over his head.

“He seemed kinda out of it last night. He’s always kinda rude to everyone except old people and his superiors, but yesterday– “ Sehun licks his lips– “he was really aggressive with Jongdae hyung. He even threatened him, said he didn’t want to see him around the station until he called.”

“Ahn is usually great with victims and their families, what could’ve had him so shaken up?” The other wonders.

“Probably the same thing that got us the results so fast,” Sehun says, gesturing with his chin to Jongin’s front pocket.

Jongin’s eyes widen. “Right!” He exclaims, taking his phone out his jeans. “I went over the results briefly and found that the victim hadn’t consumed any kind of drugs nor alcohol, so he was clean. The notes said he’d also not been eating much lately, probably due to the stress of a new job. They didn’t find much in his clothes besides blood, all his. Same with his shoes.” He locks his phone and lies down. “We already know he was killed with a knife, a hunting one most probably. There’s no-Oh!” Jongin springs back up. “I didn’t want to say this in front of Jongdae hyung and then forgot about it, but the body was still warm when they found it. Kim Jongdeok was definitely killed shortly before he was found.”

Too much information, too quickly has made Sehun a bit overwhelmed and he’s trying to order his thoughts into something coherent. “So, no drugs, the killer was just stronger. Nothing useful in the clothes. Killer used a hunting knife and definitely did the deed last night.”

“Yup.”

Sehun nods absentmindedly. “There’s nothing about the alley?”

“I mean, yeah, but it’s an alley, Sehunnie.” Jongin shrugs. “Nothing was found there, no weapon, no clothes and a place like that is filled with hair and spit and prints, it’d be a waste to process stuff like that.”

Sehun goes quiet for a while. He’s looking down at the ground, his eyes boring holes into the grass while he racks his brain, thinking up any missing questions. “What about the clothes?” He asks suddenly, making Jongin jump.

“What about them?” Jongin counters with a furrowed brow.

“Did they find any prints in the clothes?” Sehun explains.

“Nope.” Jongin shakes his head solemnly. “Which I _do_ find iffy, but even though I could run the tests I’m not technically a CSI, so I don’t have access to the evidence. And the killer could have used gloves for all we know.”

Sehun bites his lower lip. “You’re right.”

Jongin lets his upper body fall back first onto the ground and Sehun follows suit, stretching his long legs on the grass.

Silence falls over them once again and Sehun takes the opportunity to carefully mull over the information they’ve collected on the case. There’s no way the CSIs didn’t find prints on the clothes, but Jongin is right in that they have no way to prove it. The police are definitely hiding something and it can't be anything good. He feels a little silly for realizing just now how dangerous solving this case will actually be, considering he prides himself in knowing all of Ahn’s dirty business. Still, he needs to solve this case, both for Jongdae and his own ego and general sense of self, but that’s a whole ‘nother can of worms. He already feels like crying at the thought of how much work he’s going to have to put in.

Sehun lets out a disgruntled groan.

“What happened?” From the corner of his eye, he can see Jongin grinning at him.

“Well, first of all, I’ve got a murder to solve.” He hears Jongin snort. “Said murder solving could potentially uncover all of Ahn’s illegal businesses. Second of all, I’ve got two other active cases here. Third of all, I’ve got a ten page essay due next Tuesday.”

“Just one?” Jongin questions, clearly amused.

“That I can remember,” Sehun clarifies.

Jongin laughs. “Now that’s more like it.”

Neither one speaks after that. Their relationship is full of comfortable silences that come and go as needed and Sehun is grateful. He feels calm with Jongin, there’s no impending need to fill the quiet with mindless chatter nor any judging looks or invasive questions when he doesn’t feel like talking. He thinks back to his conversations with Jongdae the night before.

Unlike Jongin, Jongdae _does_ make him a bit nervous, but it doesn’t feel bad. It’s just the typical heart flutters while-looking-at-your-crush kinda thing. Sehun’s used to them, given his bi-monthly infatuations-at-first-eye-smile, but he can see where Jongin was coming from when he said he thought this time was different.

Maybe it’s because Jongdae is just so, so lovely and his smile ( _and his eye smile!!_ ) is just so pretty. It might also be how much Jongdae seemed to care about him, a complete stranger; how he unknowingly reassured Sehun in the smallest ways, like calling him cute at just the right moment. Overall, Jongdae just makes Sehun forget himself, which he guesses is another way of making him feel calm.

Still, he knows he met Jongdae at probably his lowest point yet. Even Jongin had found disturbing the way Jongdae had just suddenly opened up to him in the bathroom when Sehun had mentioned it during dinner the night before. In Jongin’s own words “not even extreme extroverts like Jackson down the hall spill their beans like that to strangers.” Sehun, an Introvert™, is inclined to agree.

Sehun bites his lower lip, eyes fixed on the clear, blue sky above. This is the first sunny day in months. Today’s shade of blue is rich and deep and he thinks Jongdae would look good in it; he’d probably look good in all shades of blue. Yesterday Jongdae had been wearing an oversized black hoodie with black pants. He looked nice, but also appropriately somber and Sehun wants to see him in something more colorful, something bright and happy like that blinding smile of his. Jongin had laughed, but Sehun swears Kim Jongdae’s smile is the sun itself.

Jongdae is someone he’d like to fall in love with, though he’s not quite sure a romantic relationship is what’s best for either of them at this moment. Granted, he can’t actually speak for Jongdae, but given that, as mentioned above, Jongdae is currently in a pretty emotionally vulnerable state, getting involved with someone (especially someone as intense and _complicated_ as Sehun) might not be the best idea.

Though, they could always take things slow. But he has to really reel in the whole imprinting-on-people-like-a-duckling thing if it’s ever gonna work. Which is gonna be hard when he’s already weak and defenseless in the face of Jongdae’s whole being.

And okay, this is a _little_ bit of an exaggeration, but Sehun is dramatic to cope and really who is it hurting? He’s single handedly giving Jongin abs with how much he laughs at Sehun’s dramatics.

The crux of the matter is, it _could_ work. Given that Jongdae is actually into him, of course and _whoa_ , this is the first time he’s actually considering someone might like him back. Must be the weird things Jongdae did with his eyebrows.

Jongdae has really cute quirks overall, Sehun thinks. The eyebrow thing, his pout, his cute little frown. Jongdae is just a cute person. Who wants to be his friend, at the least, if the way he said goodbye last night is anything to go by.

“Do you think Jongdae could like me back eventually?” Sehun asks suddenly, breaking the silence.

Jongin, surprisingly, hasn’t gone back to sleep, so he answers just a few moments after. “Of course, Sehun-ah. He’s just a dude and you’re just a dude. Two dudes can like each other.”

An amused grin tugs at Sehun’s lips. “I know this is about my insecurities and weird, sometimes unhealthy attachments to people I admire but why did it sound like a bad FCKH8 ad?”

“I know!” Jongin whines. “I realized as soon as I said it, okay? So please drop it.”

“Why, though? It’s good advice,” Sehun teases.

Jongin turns to glare playfully at him. Sehun can feel his eyes boring holes into the right side of his face, but he doesn’t turn around, just lets his smile get bigger.

A thought strikes him. “Do you think Jongdae would agree with the bad FCKH8 ad?” He blurts out, turning towards Jongin.

Jongin frowns, taking a moment to process the question. “I mean,” he begins, “didn’t you say he’s friends with Byun Baekhyun?”

“Good point,” Sehun concedes, returning his gaze to the sky.

From the corner of his eye, he can see Jongin’s fond smile. Seconds later, though, Jongin’s face falls. His friend looks troubled. His brow furrows and he quickly sits up, facing Jongin.

“What happened?” He asks, trying to appear relaxed.

Jongin sighs and he, too, sits up. He looks up at Sehun with those big puppy eyes of his.

Sehun feels his heart drop to his stomach. _Was it my turn to clean the bathroom or something?_

“I know you don’t really wanna talk about it, but we have to.” Jongin pauses briefly. His eyes search Sehun’s face for some kind of reaction, but seeing as Sehun has no idea what Jongin is talking about he can only blink his eyes in confusion a few time. Jongin sighs. “Sehunnie, what happened last night was not normal.”

Sehun frowns, feeling pretty damn confused. “Are you talking about Ahn or about the Kim Jongdae opened his heart to a stranger on a bathroom incident? Because I thought we both agreed those were bad.”

Jongin puts his hands on his knees and straightens up, the looks in his eyes is somewhat alarming. “Don’t play dumb now, Sehun. This is serious, you haven’t had a panic attack in months– “ _Oh, that._ – “and then last night you almost hyperventilate in the middle of a coffee shop! You were shaking and your leg was all over the place and I– I know this isn’t about me, but Sehun-ah I was _so scared_.”

“Nini, I-I swear I just forgot about it. I’m not lying!” He’s quick to add at Jongin’s disbelieving look. “I’m not, I _swear_. I’m fine. I’m– I’m okay,” he whispers the last part, not really lying.

It makes no sense how okay he is, considering what happened just the night before. His brain has given him small blessings such as this before, yet it doesn’t make sense when he thought he’d come to such an earthshattering realization yesterday.

“Jonginnie, do you think I hate myself?”

One day, he’s going to give Jongin whiplash.

But for now, said Jongin is staring at him, wide eyed and horrified. It weights a bit on him, how much Jongin cares. It still takes him by surprise how willing Jongin is to spend time and energy and money on Sehun, just because they’re friends. Giving, as in doing his absolute best to take care of Jongin, is easy. Meanwhile, receiving, as in baring himself in front of Jongin and letting him take the reins for once, spilling all the secrets he’s kept so tightly locked up for _years_ , is very, very hard.

“I don’t know, Sehun-ah,” Jongin says eventually. “I guess I’d like to think you don’t, I mean you’re much better with people now and you take selfies and there are even some days you walk around clinging to my back like a baby koala but–“ Jongin shrugs–“I don’t know, it’s not my place to answer that question. Do _you_ think you hate yourself?”

The automatic answer should be “yes, very much so, thank you”. Except, when he goes to answer accordingly, he doesn’t actually agree with that. It’s strange and confusing and frustrating because these feelings just come out of nowhere and he doesn’t know how much truth they actually convey. Jongin would say that what makes them true is that he feels them but Sehun has good reason to distrust his perception of reality. Nevertheless, he still doesn’t feel as if he hates himself. He just _doesn’t_ , though last night he _did_. The only logical explanation he can come up with is that one of those (hating himself vs. not hating himself) is constant, while the other is not.

In some ways, he already knows the answer. His brain has clearly spelt it out for him, but it’s too good to be true and he doesn’t dare hope. He also doesn’t want to deal with the implications of it, when he’s constructed an entire identity out of hating himself. Sehun doesn’t think he’s strong enough to confront the fact that he’s healthier and he _can_ do stuff, because that means bearing responsibility for himself and the current and future state of his life. And while yes, that’s kind of a thing among his age group, it’s especially daunting for someone who has spent most of his life letting things happens to him. Jongin happened to him, Namjoon and his detective job happened to him, even his damn major happened to him. Off the top of his head he can only think of two things he made happen: his high school education and investigating a murder.

It’s not like he _wants_ to hate himself, either, it’s just that he doesn’t know how to live otherwise. Except, maybe he does and he’s been doing it all this damn time without knowing. It’s more like, he doesn’t know how to _think_ himself otherwise.

Just yesterday morning if you’d asked Oh Sehun who Oh Sehun was, he would’ve answered along the lines of “depression, anxiety, super genius, one (1) friend”. Now though, he has no idea. His mental illnesses haven’t been magically cured – as evidenced by the fact that he’s still an anxious mess – but it doesn’t feel as bad as before.

So maybe he doesn’t hate himself anymore, at least not all of the time. And that’s normal, isn’t it?

Sehun grabs his own elbows. “Jongin, have you ever hated yourself?”

Jongin, who doesn’t seem to have ever looked away from him, answers after a bit. “Sometimes. Last term when I failed that final and had to retake I felt really bad, I-I hated myself then, I think. I just couldn’t forgive myself for not passing, you know? I…” he trails off, eyes locked on Sehun’s shoes.

“But you don’t hate yourself now, though?”

Jongin must probably be wondering what the hell Sehun is thinking right now, but to his credit he doesn’t mention anything, merely replies with “no, I don’t,” looking up at him through his lashes.

Sehun nods, letting it all sink in. He can be better, _healthier_ , and it doesn’t mean that he was faking before, that he wasn’t _really_ depressed, it just means that the state of his mental health has changed. That _he_ has changed. And he’s _allowed_ to change. He’s even expected to, just like everyone else.

Sehun chances a glance at Jongin. His friend, his best friend whom he loves and who loves him (and, _whoa_ , isn’t that a scary thought), is silently playing with the grass beneath them, waiting for Sehun to say something again.

So he does.

“Last night, when I had that panic attack I felt really bad with myself,” he begins, staring down at his hands. “I was just so embarrassed and couldn’t believe how _weak_ I was. I—I hated myself. It was a feeling unlike any I’d ever felt before. It was such a _deep_ hatred, Nini, it—it _tore_ through me. It shocked me so much it literally got me out of the panic.” Sehun swallows, blinking back tears. He hears the rustle of Jongin scooting closer and manages a faint smile when his friend presses himself up against him, laying his head on Sehun’s shoulder. “Even when I was 15 and had no friends and mom was never home and I was _so_ depressed that I wouldn’t shower for days or do anything, really – I’d never felt that way.”

Jongin squeezes his hand and Sehun licks his lips.

“Last night was the first time I was completely conscious of hating myself. And I – I don’t know if it’s because I’ve never known anything besides hating myself – though now I’m not sure if that’s even true, either! If I actually think about it, I don’t think I’ve felt the way I felt at fifteen in such a long time, even before I met you. I just hadn’t realized.” Sehun wipes his eyes with the sleeve of his sweater, a bit more harshly than necessary, making Jongin take Sehun’s hands back in his. “So, because I’ve been living thinking I hate myself, even though I actually don’t, when a moment came up in which I _did_ , it felt ridiculously intense.”

Jongin chuckles. “Like how we spent all of freshman year going up and down four flights of stairs without complaining because our dorm had no elevator but now that we live in a dorm that _does_ have one, you throw a fit whenever there’s more than five people waiting for it, all to go up two floors.”

“Yeah,” Sehun confirms, through a choked laugh. The tears are still falling down his cheeks but neither he nor Jongin do anything to stop them. They’re no cause for alarm, as Sehun doesn’t hate himself anymore and hasn’t for a long time.

 

 

xxXxx

 

 

They end up taking a nap together under the tree. Sehun is not quite sure how Jongin convinced him to, but it’s not something he really wants to ponder.

Sehun wakes up on his own around five, just in time to catch Seolhyun after the Drama Club meeting. It takes a few minutes to wake Jongin up, but soon they’re walking across campus to the Arts Department.

“So, any bets as to what’s grad student Lee Soojin involvement in the Great Pie Steal?” Jongin asks playfully.

“Fuck if I know.” Sehun snorts. “I just hope Seolhyun does, otherwise I’ll have to go investigate myself and I don’t have the time for that.”

“Well, solving murders can be rather time consuming. I would know.” Jongin shrugs. “What’s the other case you’ve got open, by the way?”

“Namjoon asked me to get someone expelled this morning,” Sehun answers. “Wanna know who?”

“And why, would be nice, too, if you don’t mind.”

“Sassy,” Sehun teases. He narrowly avoids Jongin’s punch. “Alright, calm down, you don’t need to get so aggressive,” he says, between laughs. “I’m getting Seo Jooseung expelled,” he says, lowering the volume of his voice.

Jongin abruptly stops in his step. “Wait, what, why?”

“He was harassing Hoseok at a party last weekend, he got too touchy so Hoseok ended up punching him and now he’s threating to rat him out,” Sehun explains, finally.

“What a dick,” Jongin mutters, frowning.

“Yup.” Sehun nods. “I have some leads, but I still have to get actual dirt on him.”

Jongin nods absentmindedly, to busy taking his phone out of his pocket. He resumes walking as soon as it’s out.

Sehun follows. “Texting Hoseok?”

“Yeah, he wasn’t at practice today and now I know why.” Jongin doesn’t look up from his phone and Sehun has to physically move him out of the way of a bench.

“Will you watch where you’re going?” Sehun rolls his eyes.

“Sorry,” Jongin says, smiling sheepishly, while he pockets his phone.

“It’s fine, you dork. Just don’t die.”

“Same!” Jongin loops his arm through Sehun’s and begins chattering away about his day.

They walk the rest of the way like that, Sehun letting Jongin’s voice fill his mind like white noise, distracting him from other thoughts. At first he felt a bit bad for doing this, ignoring Jongin when he talked, but since then they’ve actually come to an agreement in which Sehun using Jongin as his personal, walking white noise app is expected and encouraged. And apparently Jongin got an A on his Ethics exam thanks to one of their walks so it’s actually a win-win situation.

“Oh, hi, hyung!” Jongin exclaims suddenly, making Sehun jump in surprise.

“Hey, Jongin! Sehun!” Jongdae greets, waving at them from a bench to their right, just outside the Arts Department.

He’s looking every bit as pretty as the night before. This time though, he’s wearing a sweater in a nice shade of pink. Sehun thinks the color suits him very well. Jongdae is also sitting next to Baekhyun.

“C’mon, let’s go over to them.” And just like that Jongin is tugging him over to his current crush.

“Hello, hyung! Sunbaenim.” Jongin bows and Sehun awkwardly follows along, completely out of his depth.

“Oh Sehun, my savior! My hero! My champion!” Baekhyun announces, rather loudly.

Sehun blinks a few times, trying to keep the annoyance out of his face. “Yes, that happens to be my name. How has Ddori been lately? Taking another vacation, is he?” He asks wearing his sweetest, fakest costumer service smile, hoping Baekhyun will get the message.

He does, thankfully, as evidenced by his pout. “You’re no fun, Oh Sehun. And Ddori is safe and sound, thank you very much.”

“Leave the kid alone, Baekhyun,” Jongdae says, with an amused little twist of his lips.

Baekhyun then turns his pout to Jongdae, declaring “you’re no fun, either, Kim Jongdae.”

“One of us has to graduate, Baekhyun.” Jongdae shrugs, looking all mock apologetic. It’s yet another thing for Sehun to add to his “cute shit Jongdae does” folder.

“We actually have a favor to ask you, hyung,” Jongin begins. “It’s for the investigation.”

Sehun furrows his brow. “We do?” He asks, unthinkingly.

“Yeah.” Jongin nods. “I was thinking about this on the way here. We need the company’s security tapes from last night. Do you think you could get us in, hyung?”

“Uh, sure,” Jongdae replies. “There’s this one girl who worked with Jongdeok hyung, I guess she could help.” His voice barely trembles when talking of his brother and Sehun is really impressed. “I might have to go with you, though, don’t know if she’d give that information to complete strangers.”

“That’s cool,” Jongin replies, not missing a beat. “I have class in a bit, anyway, so you and Sehunnie can go look into that, unless you have something else to do?”

“Sure thing.” Jongdae smiles up at Sehun and the latter wonders how come he hasn’t become a puddle yet.

“Wait, so you’re actually solving a murder a la Nancy Drew?” The disbelieving tone on Baekhyun noise is enough to know just how much he disapproves of this endeavor.

“As a matter of fact yes,” Sehun retorts. “Got a problem with that?”

“Well, _duh_. You do realize you could end up dead or something, right?” Byun Baekhyun is just as infuriating as he remembers him to be. The only difference is that now he’s actually right.

“I am aware,” he deadpans. “Have you seen Kim Seolhyun around?” He asks, this time to Jongdae. Looking directly at him is making weird things to Sehun’s heart. But is it really his fault that he finds Jongdae and smiling face so attractive?

“Wait, Kim Seolhyun as in the President of the undergrad Drama Club?” Baekhyun interrupts.

Sehun is slowly losing his patience. Baekhyun better have something good. “Yes, her. I have a few things to ask her a about a Lee Soojin, apparently she’s involved in the bake sale fiasco,” he explains dismissively, looking around for Seolhyun.

Baekhyun smirks. “Oh, she’s more than involved, she planned the whole thing.”

“I wouldn’t mind some details,” Sehun prompts, skeptical.

“Lee Soojin stole all the baked goods the Drama Club had as part of an on-going prank war she's having with one of the guys on the club, Ryu Namwook. From what I heard, he retaliated by stealing all of her shirts and tie-dyeing them.” Baekhyun chuckles.

“Wild,” Jongin whispers.

“Indeed,” Baekhyun agrees.

From the corner of his eye, Sehun can see Jongdae’s smile grow some. He’s seems to be in a much better mood today.

“Okay, how come you know this and I don’t?” Sehun questions.

Baekhyun is happy to answer. “Because I am just better than you, my dear Sehunnie.” That’s the smuggest expression Sehun has seen on anyone and _Gods_ does Byun Baekhyun know how to be obnoxious.

Suddenly, though, Baekhyun is almost lying down on the bench, hanging onto it for dear life, a scared expression on his face.

Kim Jongdae is one strong little man.

“Stop lying, you brat!” Jongdae laughs, after having shoved his friend halfway across a bench. “He knows because he’s roommates with Namwook. He hasn’t told anyone besides me and Chanyeol because he’s afraid Namwook will tie-dye his clothes, too.”

_Kim Jongdae, his savoir, his hero, his champion._

An alarm sounds from Jongin’s pockets. “Oh, damn, I have to get to class,” he says turning off the noise. “See you tonight, Sehunnie!” He squeezes Sehun’s shoulder, before bowing to their seniors. “Goodbye, hyung! Sunbae.” With one last wave, Jongin turns around and starts walking to his class.

Sehun watches Jongin get smaller and smaller, painfully aware of both Jongdae’s and Baekhyun’s eyes on him.

When he can’t take the tension anymore, he clears his throat and says, “I have to go talk to Seolhyun and then we can go deal with the security tapes, is that okay with you, Jongdae hyung?”

Now out of the liminal space of a deserted coffee shop bathroom at midnight, he should’ve probably asked before calling Jongdae that, but it’s too late for that now.

Thankfully, Jongdae doesn’t comment on it. “It’s fine, Sehun-ah. I’ll be here waiting.” Jongdae smiles at him, all cheery and sparkly and reassuring and that’s just… _not natural_. Jongdae’s brother was just killed; he shouldn’t have to go around putting up a front. He should be allowed to mourn, or maybe more accurately, allow himself to mourn.

Figuring out Jongdae is the kind of person who puts others before himself had not been hard at all; it’s written all over him.

But Sehun doesn’t really have the time to think it through, so he just nods in acknowledgement, putting on his business face.

The talk with Seolhyun goes well. She looks about ready to kill someone, but is seemingly satisfied with his work. She thanks him profusely as she pays him, before jet setting to God knows where, most probably going to assassinate Ryu Namwook. He wonders if Baekhyun will still have a roommate to come home to.

By the time he walks back to the bench the shadows’ angles are pronounced and while the sun is still shining he knows it’s going to be dark soon. They should probably hurry up and get to Jongdeok’s company before it’s too late.

When he gets back, Jongdae is sitting alone. Sehun stops walking and takes a moment to look him over.

Jongdae has his headphones on and seems to be quietly singing along to whatever’s playing. His eyes are downcast, while his lips make slow, sometimes drawn out movements. Sehun guesses he’s listening to ballads, probably sad ones. It makes him feel a bit bad to admit this, but he’s glad. It’s good to know that Jongdae is expressing himself at least in _some_ way, when earlier he was smiling and laughing like nothing bad had ever happened to him.

Sehun is not one to judge and everyone is allowed to deal with the mourning process in whatever way they want, but he can’t help but worry as he knows first-hand just how shaken up Jongdae is by the situation.

Today’s pink sweater fits him better than last night’s sweatshirt, the sleeves only a little bit longer than they should be. He’s also wearing some nice jeans with white sneakers. Jongdae looks nice, fashionable probably, but Sehun doesn’t know nor care about that. The things that stands out to him is just how young he looks, how...lost and alone he seems. It doesn’t help that his small form is hunched over the phone on his lap.

Sehun bites his lip. He knows Jongdae will go on hiding his feelings for as long as he can until he either breaks down or someone calls him out, or someone calls him out because he breaks down. (He knows this from personal experience.) But, and there’s a but, he has a chance to do something about it. Jongdae gave him an opening last night and he has to make the most of it.

If before he was too depressed to help anyone but himself, being healthier, he decides, means being not-depressed enough to help someone else, too.

He approaches Jongdae with even steps, trying not to startle him. As he gets closer he notices the tears running silently down his face.

Sehun swallows. He’s way, way in over his head right now. He can’t back down, though, he won’t.

“Hyung?” He calls, once in front of Jongdae.

At first the other doesn’t answer, too focused on his phone.

Sehun chances a glance at it and his breath catches in his throat at the sight. He’s 112% sure the man with an arm wrapped around Jongdae’s shoulder is, _was_ , Kim Jongdeok, Jongdae’s older brother.

He feels like a creep standing there, hovering over Jongdae, even peeking at his damn phone, but he doesn’t know what to do.

He begins by taking a step back and taking in a deep breath. He exhales slowly, through his nose.

Jongdae hasn’t looked away from the phone, even though the screen has gone dark by now. His shoulders are quivering with sobs.

Sehun wets his lips. He carefully considers his options before choosing to gently sit down beside Jongdae, leaving a safe distance between them.

Jongdae notices him when he sits down, his whole body tensing up. He quickly takes off his headphones and begins to harshly dry his face with his sweater.

“Hey,” Sehun says, softly. “You should be more careful, you might hurt yourself.”

Jongdae halts all movement.

“It’s okay to be upset, you know? You don’t have to act strong if you don’t feel that way. I’m sure your friends would be more than glad to be strong for you,” Sehun continues.

Jongdae chuckles wetly. “And how would know?”

“Jongin told me that once. He’s usually right about people stuff.” The younger one shrugs.

“Well, if you think he’s a credible source then I –,” Jongdae tries to joke, before cutting himself off with a sob.

Without thinking it through, Sehun takes Jongdae’s hand in his. “You can talk to me if you don’t want to worry your friends,” he offers. “I won’t judge, I promise.”

Jongdae nods hurriedly. “I—I know, I jus—“

“Do you want a hug?” Sehun interrupts him.

Jongdae whips around to stare at him. His eyes are wide open and shiny with tears. His face is wet and flushed, his lips parted and still cracked. Shuddering breaths go in and out between them, speeding up with every second and Sehun knows Jongdae is a breath away from more sobbing. Literally.

So, Sehun takes the executive decision of pulling Jongdae to his chest. It’s uncomfortable at first, Jongdae lying in an awkward angle, but Sehun quickly solves this by scooting closer. They end up flush against each other, with one of Sehun’s arm around Jongdae’s waist and his other hand in his hair.

Jongdae hasn’t said anything yet nor made a move to return the hug, though he’s also not pulling away, so Sehun counts it as a win.

The sun has begun to set, tinting the sky with pretty reds and pinks and yellows, that serve as background for the most clichéd scene Sehun has ever found himself in. He honestly feels like the protagonist of a bad drama, but he figures it’s still better than being the second lead of a bad drama.

He hugs Jongdae closer and starts to gently run his fingers through his hair. It’s soft and glossy and smells fruity. He feels a bit creepy smelling it, but it’s right there under his nose so it’s not like he can help it.

Hesitantly, Jongdae sneaks his own arms around Sehun, burrowing his head on the younger one’s shoulder.

Sehun smiles tenderly against Jongdae’s head. “Want to meet up tomorrow morning to get the tapes?” He knows they don’t actually have the time, knows that Ahn could be deleting the tapes this very moment, yet he can’t bring himself to force Jongdae to go get them, nor can he stand the thought of leaving him alone when he’s like this.

Jongdae nods in agreement, leaning back, but still not breaking the embrace. He clears his throat. “Do you – would you mind walking me home? I could make you dinner, if you have the time. I just don’t wanna be alone right now,” he admits, eyes downcast while his hands grabbing fistfuls of Sehun’s sweater.

“Of course,” Sehun agrees immediately. “And I can cook for you, if you’re too tired, it’s okay.”

“Yeah? And how do I know if you can cook? I don’t lend my kitchen to just everyone, you know?” Jongdae looks up, raising an eyebrow in challenge.

Sehun gasps in offence. And he’s actually offended, for the record. “I’ll have you know, hyung, that I’m an excellent cook,” he says, with a creased forehead and a pout.

Instead of answering, Jongdae just stares at him. Eventually, he seems to realize what he’s doing and looks down, embarrassed. Sehun still catches a sweet smile on his face. It’s too dark to truly tell, but he’s pretty sure Jongdae is blushing, too.

The older one stands up then, grabbing his bag and putting all his things in it. “Let’s go.” He doesn’t wait for Sehun to react before he starts walking down the path that leads out of the campus.

Just then, Sehun remembers Jongdae lives in an off campus apartment, which he shared with his brother until yesterday evening. Given that Jongdae had apparently showed up to class today, he doubts any of Jongdeok’s stuff is packed up; there are probably still pictures of him put up all around the place. Sehun really can’t blame Jongdae for wanting to get out of there.

He jogs to catch up to Jongdae, trying not to think too much about what he’s going to find at Jongdae’s place.

 

 

Turns out the apartment is bare. Nothing seems out of place so Sehun can’t know if that has always been the case. Either way, that’s not the priority right now, so he just limits himself to being thankful for Jongdeok-less walls.

Jongdae’s currently in what Sehun guesses is his bedroom, changing into something more comfortable.

He wanders over to the kitchen. He pokes around, wondering what exactly Jongdae is going to cook for him.

The fridge is more on the empty side, but he can see enough food for a meal in it. There’s also a half full Tupperware on one of the bottom shelves.

Sehun bites his lower lip wondering how old the food is. He remembers Jongdae had smelt vaguely like food last night, as if he’d been cooking before going to the station. He had probably been cooking for his brother, wanting to greet him with a warm meal when he came home from work.

The sound Jongdae’s bedroom opening and closing startles him and he slams the fridge door closed due to the surprise. His heart is beating wildly as he turns around, a hand on his chest.

Just then, Jongdae pokes his head into the kitchen. His lips curl into an amused little twist.

Sehun does _not_ blush. He does _not_.

“Everything alright?”

Years of experience have taught Sehun that opening your mouth in embarrassing situations only make them worse, so he just nods, doing his best to do it in a mild and even pace.

There’s so much – _fond_ in Jongdae’s eyes. It’s really disconcerting. They’ve only known each other for about a day, it’s not enough time for Jongdae to seem so attached to him.

Jongdae is clearly the Mom Friend and his brother was just killed, he must be in need of someone to take care of. Sehun knows he looks the part, would be delighted to play the part under any other circumstance. Confronting Jongdae too directly will only end up in disaster, so he _has_ to play along to some degree, though he knows he can’t just forget himself and fall into it. He’s going to have to play it by ear and that makes him terribly anxious.

It’s really ironic in the worst sense that the one person Jongdae would’ve unquestionably let take care of him, is the same one whose death he’s grieving.

But maybe Sehun’s going a bit overboard with this. Jongdae is not him, he has actual friends. Sehun should probably go talk to them and ask for advice on how to help Jongdae.

Jongdae is not a kitten he found in an alley, whose livelihood depends solely on him. He can very well take care of himself, and that’s something Sehun is going to have to remind himself of constantly.

“I was thinking maybe we should get some take out,” Sehun says, breaking the silence.

Jongdae’s face falls. “Do you distrust my cooking that much?” He asks, voice sounding sad and small, but by the over the top puppy eyes Sehun knows it’s all an act.

“I don’t distrust your cooking; it’s just been a long day for both. Wouldn’t you prefer to just order something and be done with it?” Sehun shrugs, leaning against the fridge, his hands gripping the handle.

Jongdae’s eyes are drawn to the device and he sighs. He hugs his middle as he looks down to his feet.

“Jjajangmyun?” Sehun blurts out.

“Huh?” Jongdae looks up.

“Want to get jjajangmyun?” Sehun repeats, stepping away from the fridge and closer to Jongdae.

“Oh, yeah. Jjajangmyun’s fine,” Jongdae replies.

Sehun nods awkwardly, having just realized someone has to make the call. And honestly, it should be him.

Jongdae interrupts his train of thought with, “Is it okay with you if I order? I know a place.”

_Kim Jongdae, his champion, his savior, his whatever else Baekhyun said._

“Sure!” And if that came out too enthusiastic Jongdae doesn’t comment on it.

Jongdae orders the food and they settle down on the couch to watch a movie.

Jongdae offers Sehun the remote but he refuses given that 1) he doesn’t even know how to operate Netflix, and while figuring it out couldn’t be hard, 2) he knows fuck all about movies and would probably end up choosing something dumb like The Lion King. In the end, Jongdae puts on a show he’d been re-watching, after Sehun’s confirmation that “yes, it’s fine, really. Jongin’s a spoiling machine, anyway.”

Privately, in his head, he adds _“and it’s not like I’d ever watch that show out of my own volition, are you a masochist, hyung?”_

The food arrives while Jongdae’s in the bathroom and Sehun’s conscience forces him to go get it. He’s grateful for it when the dude making the delivery asks for Jongdeok, even if _he’d_ had to relay to the bad news to the delivery guy.

He leaves the food on the coffee table and goes to the kitchen to get some water. By the time he’s back in the living room Jongdae is in the middle of unwrapping his food. He seems distracted, struggling a little with the plastic.

“Need some help?” He asks, setting the jug and glasses on the coffee table.

Sehun’s half expecting Jongdae to refuse and give him that angry, little glare for even suggesting it, but instead Jongdae’s shoulder just sag forward as he hands his noodles to Sehun.

The latter smiles at Jongdae, taking the container. He sits down next to him and quietly unwraps the jjajangmyun.

The TV is still on pause and neither of them is talking, making the apartment quiet. The heater’s on and the lights are low, giving the room a warm and cozy atmosphere. After an emotional rollercoaster of a day he finally finds himself at peace. There’s no anxiety coiling in stomach and strangely enough, there are no weird butterflies in it, either. His heart flutters while looking at Jongdae and he feels warm and happy, but there’s no tension.

He gives Jongdae his food back, finding the older one had been looking at him. They hold each other’s gaze for several seconds, in which Sehun feels as if he’s being sucked into Jongdae’s dark eyes. Soon enough, they’re the only thing he can see. Without much control over himself, he starts leaning in, his upper body inching closer to Jongdae’s.

He only stops when Jongdae whispers a little _“hey”_ , making him stop cold. Sehun leans back a bit and blinks rapidly a few times, refocusing his eyes. He keeps his eyes on Jongdae’s knee, where the noodles are still lying on, held by Jongdae’s both hands, getting cold. He doesn’t dare look up.

“Sehunnie,” Jongdae whispers again, bringing Sehun’s face towards him with a gentle hand on the younger one’s left cheek.

Sehun gasps.

“It's okay, Sehunnie. It’s okay.” Jongdae’s breath fans across his face.

“It’s supposed to be the other way around, you know?” Sehun comments, voice just as low. Eyes roaming slowly over Jongdae’s face, trying not to focus too much on any particular feature.

Jongdae gulps.

Sehun’s gaze follows the movement of Jongdae’s Adam’s apple.

“What are we even doing?” He wonders out loud, voice breathy.

Jongdae shrugs and lets out a little giggle. “I don’t know,” he answers, laying his head on Sehun’s shoulder. “I like it,” he adds as an afterthought.

A half smile appears on Sehun’s face. “I like it, too.”

Eventually, Sehun takes the food out of Jongdae’s lap and puts it down on the table, before returning to Jongdae’s side. The older one fits himself against Sehun easily, tucking his head on the crook of his neck, while Sehun wraps his arms around him, resting his cheek on Jongdae’s head.

It’s almost a mirror of their earlier embrace, out on the bench, only it’s more intimate and _much_ more comfortable.

Jongdae’s hair still smells heavenly and this time Sehun lets himself take a deep breath, sighing happily when the fruity smell fill his nostrils. He can’t quite place it but it’s sweet and sort of acid, but not unpleasant, quite the contrary. He burrows his nose deeper into Jongdae’s hair, tightening his grip around him.

They stay like that for several minutes.

Sehun is almost sure Jongdae has fallen asleep and he smiles at the thought. He could go for a nap too; falling asleep next to Jongdae would be nice.

Except, a _ping_ from his phone breaks the silence, the screen lighting up with a text message.

Jongdae is startled awake by the noise, unknowingly untangling himself from Sehun, in the process.

The latter stifles a disappointed sigh at their newfound distance.

“What happened?” Jongdae asks, voice hoarse from sleep. His hair is sticking up in every direction and it takes everything in Sehun not to laugh at him.

“Jongin, probably,” Sehun answers, lips pressed together to hide a smile.

Jongdae realizes this, because _of course he does_. The older one pouts and now Sehun finally understands why Coni was making all those weird, high-pitched noises at that girl group member during last week’s episodes.

He’s survived bullying; invasive, ableist teachers; two (2) Finals Week – he’s not sure how he’ll be able to survive this much cuteness.

“Are you this cute all of the time?” Sehun teases, openly grinning.

An insulted noise leaves Jongdae’s mouth and Sehun cackles. Actual, honest to God cackles, like the goddamned Witch of the West.

In no time, Jongdae is beating Sehun with a throw pillow.

Alas, Sehun will not stop cackling.

They eventually tire out of their pillow fight, choosing to lie down on the carpet.

“How did we end up on the floor, again?” Jongdae is panting, covering his eyes with his right arm. His other arm is brushing Sehun’s own.

The younger one snorts. “Well, _someone_ couldn’t take a little teasing.”

“Yah!” Jongdae exclaims, whipping his right arm to the side. “Respect your elders, you brat!”

“If you acted more like it then maybe I would, _hyung_ ,” Sehun retorts.

“That is the single most insulting way someone has ever called me hyung,” Jongdae deadpans.

Sehun smirks. “I live to serve.”

Jongdae rolls his eyes, clearly irritated. “I’m gonna go heat our food up,” he announces, standing up. “You check your phone.”

Sehun stares at Jongdae as he heads into the kitchen, a foolish smile on his face.

With a bout of giggling he sits up and grabs his phone. Upon unlocking it, he finds a couple of texts from Jongin.

**Nini:**

_hey, I got called iin 4 an extra shift_ _im gonna be l8 tonight 2_ _sry about that_

Sehun goes to reply, trying to somehow explain to Jongin that he completely forgot about him, when two more texts come in:

**Nini:**

_fuck fuck fcuk_ _I found the killers clothes_

“What the-?” Sehun mutters, fingers flying over the keyboard.

**You:**

_jongdeoks???_

**Nini:**

_yes guck_  
_its the same fucking tie istg_  
_all of its coverwd in blood imam make some tesgs_

**You:** _use gloves_

After a moment’s hesitation he adds:

_take care_

He feels Jongdae place his hand on his shoulder.

“Sehun? Is everything alright?”

“Jongin found some evidence at the station. I’m guessing it was being hid or something. He’s running tests now.”

Jongdae’s grip on his shoulder tightens. “Did he find something, yet?”

“N-no. No, he just started, I – I should go,” Sehun concludes, looking up at Jongdae.

“What do you mean?” Jongdae asks alarmed.

“I – Jongin’s by himself at the station running tests behind the back of the city’s most corrupt cop and I’m just here sitting on my ass, doing nothing!”

“Sehunnie,” Jongdae sighs, dropping to his knees beside him. “Want me to take you there?”

There’s no doubt in Sehun’s mind that Jongdae would drop everything right now and get him to the police station, but that’s not why Sehun’s here. The thought is sobering. He just gulps and looks away, a quiet “no” leaving his lips.

“Are you sure?” Jongdae insists, running a hand through Sehun’s hair.

“Yeah.” Sehun nods. “Ahn would probably find it really suspicious if we just showed up. Besides, didn’t he ban you from the station?”

“He did, fuck, he did,” Jongdae laughs, breathlessly.

“Can’t believe he threatened you like that, he’s usually better with victims’ families,” Sehun comments.

Jongdae shrugs. “He almost brought me in once, for a prank gone wrong, so he knew me already.”

“What did you even do?” Sehun asks, disbelieving.

“Well,” Jongdae begins, sitting down from his kneeling position. “We were drunk and kinda high so we just thought it’d be the coolest thing to fill Baekhyun’s advisor’s office with bowls of soup and-“

“Why soup?” Sehun giggles.

“I – don’t know. Because we all like soup, and Mr. Jackass does, too, so…” the older one trails off.

“Let me guess, Mr. Jackass is Baekhyun’s advisor,” Sehun remarks, dryly.

Jongdae nods that adorable little nod of his and Sehun is ready to combust.

“How did Ahn get involved in all of this, anyway?” Sehun desperately needs the conversation to move along, right now, before he starts squealing.

“It was the middle of the night, so we had to break into the Music Building. Thing is, we were so drunk none of could pick the lock properly, so we were really loud,” Jongdae explains. “So loud a girl from the dorm across the building saw us and called the cops.”

“It’s really hard to imagine Chanyeol being quiet,” Sehun says, making Jongdae snort. He smirks. “But how did you get away with it?”

“Chanyeol’s family has money and his mom apparently knows a really good lawyer. Chanyeol said one word and we were free, though I know his mom yelled at him.” Jongdae smiles at the memory.

Sehun’s heart is currently auditioning for the National Ballet inside his ribcage. He starts playing with Jongdae’s fingers to try to calm himself down. The other one’s hands are surprisingly smooth. “How long have you been friends with them?”

“Since freshman year, so about three years now. Me and Baekhyun actually met when we took the CSAT, but we didn’t become friends then; we weren’t even in the same classroom. We met again during Music Theory I and he was all like: ‘hi! Remember me?!’” Sehun wonders if he looks that ridiculously fond when talking about Jongin. He wonders if _Jongin_ looks that ridiculously fond when talking about him

“I don’t think I could keep up with a friend like Baekhyun.” Sehun has since moved from playing with Jongdae’s finger to folding and unfolding the cuff of his sweater. To his credit, Jongdae has yet to comment on it. Sehun is sure he’s found The One.

“Me either, to be honest. That’s why I have Minseok hyung.”

Sehun remembers a Minseok. “That’s the one who recommended me, right?”

“Yeah, one of his grad student friends said he had a friend who was great at finding stuff,” Jongdae confirms.

_Grad student?_ “How many friends does Junmyeon hyung even have?” He muses out loud.

“What?” Jongdae laughs.

Sehun will never tire of hearing that sound.

“Junmyeon hyung is the only grad student who I could call a friend.”

Jongdae frowns. “You don’t consider him a friend?”

The question catches him off-guard. “I – No, I don’t. It’s not that I don’t _like_ him,” he rushes to add, “it’s just that I don’t know – I wouldn’t want to—“

“Assume that someone likes you?” Jongdae raises a very unimpressed eyebrow.

Sehun gulps, suddenly feeling small under the older student’s stare.

“From what Minseok hyung said it seems Junmyeon is very fond of you and I’m getting rather charmed by you, too. I don’t let just anybody almost kiss me on my couch, you know?” Jongdae continues, his expression not changing much.

Sehun blushes and bites his lower lip. “We just met each other last night.”

Jongdae smiles bashfully. “I know.” His cheeks have, too, gone a bit pink. “I’d still like to kiss you.”

_Boy, have this been some intense 24 hours._

A _ping_ from Sehun’s phone interrupts them yet again.

By this point, Sehun doesn’t know if Jongin is the evilest cockblock in history or the bestest friend in the world with the bestest timing.

**Nini:**

_the tests are running_ _ahn jus went home_ _he didnt get the tapes_ _i checked the file_ _no interviews either_ _did u_ _????_

**You:**

_no hyung was too upset_ _i dont think ahn not getting them is good_ _take care tho_

“Ask him how long it’ll take,” Jongdae requests, peeking into Sehun’s phone.

“Sure,” Sehun says with a teasing smile.

Jongdae flushes bright red.

**You:**

_how much fo u have to wait??_

**Nini:**

_hopefully they’ll be don b4 4_

“What happens at four?” Jongdae ask, fully leaning into Sehun now.

“It’s the shift change. If they’re not done ‘till then, they’ll definitely find him out,” Sehun answers.

“Oh.”

“Yup.”

Jongdae leans back some. “Why do you think Ahn not getting the tapes isn’t good?”

“They rushed all the tests on the case, but then they wait a day to interview Jongdeok’s coworkers? It’s usually the other around. I believe your brother was killed at the office and Ahn waited a day to give his inside guy, probably the murderer, enough time to delete the video evidence,” Sehun explains.

Jongdae looks taken aback. “Oh,” he repeats.

“I’m sorry, I know it’s a lot to process, I shouldn’t hav-“

“We need to go to the company right now,” Jongdae announces, startling Sehun.

“ _What_?”

“Sunyoung puts in extra hours on the regular and she’s an IT employee, she’ll get us the tapes. If the killer deleted them just today we might have a chance to get them still. C’mon!” Jongdae stands up, rushing towards the door.

“Put on some shoes!” Sehun yells after him. _Is this what Jongin has to deal with every day?_

“Right!”

Sehun chuckles. Solving mysteries certainly got interesting.

 

 

Fasoo.com, Inc. is a cyber-security company that specializes in data and software security. It’s also where the late Kim Jongdeok used to work.

Sehun and Jongdae are currently standing in front of the building its headquarters are located in. All of the lights are still on even though it’s after nine. It makes Sehun’s usual urge to preach the virtues of unionizing to the masses increase tenfold.

“So do we just go in?” He asks Jongdae.

“Yes, exactly,” the shorter one replies.

Having a purpose does wonders for Jongdae’s demeanor. Where before he looked sad and fragile, now he looks determined. Yes, he is still undeniably much shorter than Sehun, but Jongdae doesn’t feel _small_ to him anymore, now he is just a dude who happens to be shorter than him.

“Let’s go then.”

The entrance hall is deserted and they walk past the bottom floor’s receptionist without as much as a glance.

“Which floor?” Sehun asks once inside the elevator.

“Tenth.” Is Jongdae’s curt reply.

Sehun can hear the anxiety in his voice, but he’s not quite sure how to proceed, limits unclear now that they’ve sort of admitted to wanting to kiss each other. He simply leans beside Jongdae on the elevator wall and takes Jongdae’s hand in his, giving it a light squeeze, like Jongin has done for him countless times before.

“We’ll be okay,” he whispers, not really sure where this certainty is coming from. It’s probably his genius ego speaking.

The left side of Jongdae’s mouth quirks up. “I hope so.”

A little bell sounds, indicating they’ve reached their floor.

They’re let out into a fancy, little seating area, clearly meant for clients.

“Hyung worked over there,” Jongdae says, voice thick with emotion, pointing towards an office towards the left. ‘SALES’ is written on the double doors in gold.

“Management?” Since when Sehun started to make a habit of small talking about the dead with their relatives, he doesn’t know, but it’s a tried and true method to distract Jongdae from sad thoughts.

“Yeah, I was so proud of him.”

A small smiles appears on Sehun’s face. “It sure does sound like it. So, where’s this Sunyoung person?”

“Right!” Jongdae exclaims. He starts tugging Sehun down a hall on the opposite direction of the Sales area.

“Sunyoung is actually a year younger than me. She used to be a freelance hacker and one of her clients hired her to get some information from this company. She did, but she wasn’t clean enough so after a few months they ended up finding her and instead of reporting her, like she thought they would, they hired her,” Jongdae tells him, his hand moving from Sehun’s sleeve to his hand, tangling their fingers together.

Sehun’s stomach flips three times consecutively.

“And she just told you this?” He asks, incredulous.

Jongdae shrugs. “Yeah, it’s not like she has much to hide.”

“So cool,” Sehun whispers, feeling like a little kid.

Jongdae chuckles.

“What does she do for the company?” He inquires excitedly.

“She’s in charge of defending the company’s system from people like her. She’s really good at it.”

“So. Cool,” Sehun repeats.

“Why are you so awed by the idea of meeting a hacker? Didn’t you say you were friends with one?” Jongdae’s looking at him with a look that’s a mix between fond and amused.

Sehun feels warm and cared for and if this is what dating Jongdae would feel like he never ever wants it to stop.

“I know of a hacker,” he clarifies. “Jongin’s friends with someone who knows them. We just paid them to hack the police station so Jongin and I have access to the system from our phones. It cost a pretty penny, too, but it has been proven to be money well spent.”

“Now _that’s_ cool,” Jongdae remarks, grinning at Sehun.

Sehun bites his lower lip and looks down, blushing bright red.

“C’mon, we’re almost there!”

And indeed, half a hallway later, they’re standing in front of a sad, little door with a simple plaque that reads ‘Park Sunyoung’. Under it there’s a paper taped to the door with a rather ominous ‘enter at your own risk’ written on it in a messy handwriting.

To say Sehun is underwhelmed would be an understatement. “Does she really work here? Isn’t she supposed to be like, their best, most valuable employee?”

Jongdae snorts at his disappointment. “It’s better inside, I promise.” He knocks twice on the door.

A crashing sound comes inside the office.

“Well, at least we know she’s in there,” Jongdae jokes.

“Uh-huh.”

The door opens suddenly, startling them both.

“ _Jongdae_ , hi!” A short girl with glossy, auburn hair greets them with a wide grin and an excited wave. “And your friend is…?”

“I’m Oh Sehun.”

“Nice to meet you, Sehun!” She exclaims, stepping aside to let them in. “My name’s Sunyoung but I’m sure Jongdae has told you already.”

“Yeah, it’s really great to meet you, too,” Sehun gushes.

“He’s a fan,” Jongdae says, walking over to the couch against the wall, sadly letting go of Sehun’s hand.

Sehun feels himself freeze at being exposed in that way, but manages to nod and smile Sunyoung.

There’s a new light in her eyes after Sehun’s nod and she thanks him with a sweet voice and a bashful smile. “Are you into coding?” She asks, settling back down on her chair.

“Yeah, but I’ve never managed to become more than decent at it. If I code for too long the language starts giving headaches,” he answers, taking a look around the room.

The office is painted in a bright yellow color and the walls are littered with posters and photos. The bulletin board beside the door filled with polaroids and inspirational quotes stands out the most, as does the espresso machine on the table under it.

So the interior is nicer after all.

Then, off to the side is the couch Jongdae is currently lounging on, looking every bit the part of a lazy cat.

Sehun can certainly see Jongdeok’s point.

In front of the couch there’s also coffee table, while the side opposite to it only has some boring filing cabinets.

The most exciting thing about the room, though, is Sunyoung’s desk. She has multiple monitors set up all displaying different things. There’s also multiple CPUs all hooked together by cute pink cables and stacks of CDs spread across the room. The real show stealers, though, are the pink laser printer and the sparkly, rainbow bowl full of USB flash drives.

Sehun admittedly knows jack-shit about IT in the grand scheme of things, nevertheless, he is still drooling.

Sunyoung’s voice brings him out of his reverie. “Not that I mind the company, but why are you here?”

“Oh! Right, yes.” Sehun almost falls to his death trying to turn on his feet to face Sunyoung. “Uh, mind if I sit there?” He asks, pointing to the chair beside Sunyoung.

“Sure!” She replies, pulling the chair out for him.

He sits down gratefully. “So, uh, you know how…” he trails off, gesturing with his head in Jongdae’s general direction. Sehun’s painfully aware of the way Jongdae has curled into himself on the couch and if there’s anything he can do to alleviate his pain he’ll do it. Thankfully, Sunyoung understands.

Her eyes sparkle with recognition and she nods quickly, bringing their chairs even closer together. “Yeah, I heard. Really awful stuff. I loved Jongdeok, he was the best dude to have walked these halls in a while.”

“Yeah, that sounds like the reviews Jongdeok has gotten so far.” Sehun runs a hand through his hair. “Long story short, the police are doing a rather poor job of solving the crime so I offered. We believe Jongdeok was killed here and that his killer might be an IT guy, like you, or be allied with someone of a similar skill who could’ve deleted the tapes of the time of the murder.”

Sunyoung nods understandingly. “I wonder,” she mutters thoughtfully, fingers flying over the keyboard.

In a few moments she’s pulled up the images of last night at around this time. Jongdeok appears on the video, clearly still alive and talking to his coworker, who happens to be wearing the same bright red tie as Jongdeok.

He remembers Jongin mentioning something about a tie.

“Do all management employees get a tie like that?” He asks, pointing at it on the screen.

“Yup,” Sunyoung answers easily.

“Interesting. Do you know who is the dude talking to Jongdeok?”

Sunyoung gives a long suffering side. “Yeah, he’s kind of a favourite here, but I think he’s a disgusting asshole.”

“Why?”

Sunyoung grips her mug with a bit more force than necessary. “He’s just a dickhead,” she mumbles, irritated.

“So that kinda asshole. Interesting,” Sehun comments. “Does he have a name?”

“Yoo Sangjin,” she says, every word dripping with venom.

He suppresses an amused smile in fear of offending her. He clears his throat. “Can you fast forward the tape a bit? I wanna see if they’ve cut part of the video, already.”

“Sure, gimme a sec.” Her tongue peeks out between her lips in an adorable way and if Sehun wasn’t gayer than a fucking rainbow he’s sure he’d have a crush on her. “There! There’s almost a four hour jump. From 7:38PM where Jongdeok oppa says goodbye to the dickhead, to 11:16PM where the office area looks as if it’s been locked up for the night already.”

Jongdae, who’d been silent up until that point speaks up then, “do you think you could recover that footage?”

Sunyoung turns to him, a smirk on her face. “Everything you can think of, I can do,” she boasts, before dramatically turning back to her monitors.

“Wait, before you do that, could you pull up Jongdeok’s activity feed from yesterday?” Sehun requests.

“You mean the activity registered on his user?”

Sehun blinks a few times. He is a genius who has not read enough about computer shit. “I just wanna know what he was looking at before he was murdered.”

Sunyoung smiles gently at him. “We’re on the same page then.” She then types some commands into the computer and shifts through all the stuff on her desk before handing him a wireless mouse and keyboard. “That’s your monitor.” She points towards a screen off to the left, closer to where Jongdae is.

Sehun shoots her a grateful look and rolls himself over to his screen.

It seems Jongdeok spent the day reading through the company’s client database, which makes sense considering the clients are who he would’ve worked the closest with. He seemed to have gotten through more than three quarters of the list.

Sehun sighs, readying himself to a long, tedious job. He really does hate this part of detective work.

A steaming cup of coffee appears from above, as if it were a divine gift.

“Oh, God, thank you,” he groans.

Jongdae chuckles. “Just hyung is fine. Just Jongdae, too, if you feel like dropping the honorifics.”

Sehun’s head snaps up. “Really? You want me to just call you Jongdae?”

Jongdae shrugs, rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah, if you want to. No pressure, though.”

“No, no, it’s fine. It’s completely fine. Thank you, for the coffee and… _that_.”

Jongdae gives him a crinkly smile. “It’s okay, Sehunnie.” He then stands up, walking over to Sunyoung and handing her a cup of coffee, too.

Sehun turns away from them, cheeks flushed. He has some reading to do.

Jongdeok hadn’t opened all of the clients’ files and the system lets him filter out the ones that haven’t been opened.

Eventually, though, he starts to notice a pattern. Jongdeok had stayed the longest on the files of Seoul clients who had first required the company’s services no more than ten years ago. Those were probably the clients he would’ve been more frequently assigned.

With the new filters, the results are reduced, but not in the quantity Sehun was hoping for.

He pouts, trying to think what other criteria he could add.

“Hey, hyung?” He calls, spinning around to face Jongdae.

“Yes, Sehunnie?”

“Did your brother ever mention what kind of clients he’d be dealing with?”

Jongdae takes a minute to consider his answer, pursing his lips. “I think he said something about mostly Seoul based clients, maybe something about mid-tier ones? If that makes sense.”

“It means clients who got the mid-tier plan. It makes sense for a new hire to start small,” Sunyoung elucidates, carefully pouring hot water into her cup of instant noodles.

“Yeah, you’re right,” Sehun mumbles, turning back towards the monitor. “Thanks,” he says, distractedly.

He adds the plan filter and also orders the files by time spent reading them, in descending order. Whoever designed this company’s system is a literal angel. Now that he thinks about it, Sunyoung was probably the one who designed it and yes, she is an angel. He should give her a present or something.

Later, though.

The new search parameters turn out to be a blessing as not only is the number of files reduced more drastically than before, he also finds something very interesting among the first few files. The very first one, to be exact.

It’s a file belonging to one Jeon Minwook, which Jongdeok had spent almost an hour browsing through.

With a slight grin, Sehun opens the file.

He can see right away why Jongdeok spent so much time on it. There’s barely any information on the client, whereas the other files detailed everything from address to where they most liked to have lunch.

The information being kept by the client was also encrypted to hell and back, which wasn’t the case with the other files, either. Sure, the clients’ information was always protected, only accessible to those with a certain clearance level, but all the files always provided at least a brief summary of what the client was interested in protecting.

He pokes around the file for a little while, trying to figure out what to make of it. This file is definitely what got Jongdeok killed.

He can see what happened clearly now. New hire Jongdeok is assigned a list of possible clients. He wishes to be prepared before his first real meeting with a client, so he decides to go through said list, until he stumbles upon this very interesting file, somehow manages to the bypass the encrypting on the clients information, finds something he shouldn’t have and is then caught and killed.

He’s almost a 100% sure Yoo Sangjin is who killed Jongdeok.

He keeps scanning the file, looking to gather all possible information before bothering Sunyoung about unencrypting the client’s info. He clicks on all tabs and buttons, until finally he notices something under the ‘Recent Activity’ tab. It says the client’s information folder was updated last night at 11:54PM by none other than Yoo Sangjin.

“He couldn’t have been that stupid, could he?” Sehun whispers to himself, exhilaration running wild across his body. “Noona! Sunyoung noona!” He exclaims, beaming.

“ _Oh, God_ , please don’t call me that!” She groans. “Besides, Sehun, I’m kinda bu—“

“I solved the murder!”

“What?!” “How?!” Jongdae and Sunyoung say at the same time, respectively.

“Yeah,” Sehun breathes out happily, bouncing in his seat from the excitement. “I’ll explain everything later, I promise, but Sunyoung could you please unencrypt the info on Jeon Minwook’s file first? I’m a 110% sure you’ll find the missing footage in there.”

Sunyoung nods in understanding and quickly gets to work again, focusing completely on her task.

Sehun is too energized to just stay put so he jumps up from his chair and begins tinkering around the room.

He realizes he’s absolutely famished and his stomach growls when he remembers all the food they left at Jongdae’s apartment. He reaches for a random snack bag from the ones piled up next to the espresso machine when some rather strong hands grip his other arm.

He whips around only to find Jongdae looking up at him with teary eyes and a watery smile, the relief he feels is evident in his whole demeanor. An overwhelming sense of pride swells in Sehun’s chest, knowing _he_ did that.

“Thank you,” Jongdae sobs, launching himself into Sehun’s chest. Sehun wraps his arms around him with no hesitation. “Thank you so much, so so much. I owe you so much.”

Sehun laughs, finding he’s tearing up, too. “You don’t owe me anything, hyung, nothing,” he denies, shaking his head against Jongdae’s shoulder. “If anything, I owe you, you don’t even know all that you’ve done for me.”

Jongdae sobs harder into Sehun’s sweater, tightening his hold around him.

Sehun responds in kind, as he begins to gently rock Jongdae back and forth. “It’s okay, hyung, let it all out, it’s okay. I’m here, everything’s gonna be fine, I’m here, babe.” He buries his face on Jongdae’s shoulder, letting his own tears. “We’ll be fine, everything’s gonna be fine, I’m here. I’m here, Jongdae, I’m not leaving, I’m not leaving.”

“YES! FUCK YES!” Sunyoung yells out of the blue, scaring Sehun and Jongdae almost to death.

“ _Fuck_ , Sunyoung! Indoor voice, you almost gave me a heart attack!” Jongdae yells back, tears and snot still all over his face.

Sehun can’t help but laugh out loud, bright and free.

“Jongdae, you don’t get it!” Sunyoung insists with sparkling eyes. “I got this motherfucker! The slimy little bastard thought he could get away with hiding all the evidence with Ahn’s dirty little secrets? Oh, hell no! Hell _fucking_ no! Park Sunyoung saves the day once again!”

“You mean you got it?” Sehun asks dumbly. “You actually got it? Ahn’s shit, too? I—“ Sehun cuts himself off, too overcome with emotion. His hands are shaking as he runs them through his hair, tugs on the strings of his hoodie.

“Yes! We got them!” Sunyoung exclaims and Jongdae pulls her into a grateful hug.

Sehun is somewhere else, too fucking elated for Earth. Even though he knows, he _knows_ , this means shit in the long run, that Ahn might be gone tomorrow but the day after someone will undoubtedly come take his place, but now Sehun has a _chance_ , a chance to try and do something even if nothing changes in the end.

Hiccups wrack through Sehun. He doesn’t know if they’re happy or relieved or sad or angry but who cares when he’s just solved a murder. He, Oh Sehun, just _solved a fucking murder_. Granted, he does feel like Ahn put it ridiculously easy for him, but he _still did it_.

“I solved a murder. I—I solved a murder.” He’s crying and Jongdae’s crying and he thinks he even saw Sunyoung wipe a tear.

The moment is broken when Shinhwa’s Perfect Man starts playing on Sehun’s phone.

“Oh, shit,” he says, quickly wiping his face. “Jongin’s calling.” He struggles with getting the phone out of his pocket. “Nini!” He exclaims when he finally manages to answer the call.

_“Hey, Sehun-ah, the tests are done. The blood’s all Jongdeok’s so those are definitely his murderer’s clothes. And I forgot to mention this in the rush but they’re office clothes, too, the tie is the same as Jongdeok’s and it has the company’s name embroidered on it, so he was definitely killed by a coworker.”_

“I know, Nini.” Sehun chuckles wetly.

_”You do?”_

”Yeah, we got the murder on tape. And we got evidence of all of Ahn’s dirty business, too.”

_”Oh, well. Even if it’s on camera the images the security cameras take tend to be pretty blurry, so because I’m grand and brilliant, I managed to get a DNA sample from the killer. And I even have enough for the defense.”_

Sehun, having noticed Jongin’s mood shift is quick to reassure him, “you know I couldn’t have done it without you right, Nini? We’d never have had access to the cop’s files to begin with if it wasn’t for you. Thank you, truly,” Sehun whispers.

He can hear Jongin swallow.

_”You’ve got nothing to thank me for, Sehunnie. This last test will be done a little bit before the shift change. I need you to take all the evidence you got back home with you.”_

”Is Jongdae’s apartment okay?”

_”Yeah, it’s fine. Just make sure you take copies of everything. And I’m gonna need you to come pick me up from the station. Come a bit earlier so we can clean up, okay?”_

”Yeah, yeah, of course, Nini, don’t worry about that,” Sehun rushes to say, his voice breaking a bit at the end.

_”I—Hunnie, are you crying?_

”Yeah, I am. But I’m fine, I promise. I love you.” He can hear Jongin laugh.

_”I love you, too, Hunnie, don’t you ever forget that okay? Now get the guy and the evidence home.”_

”I will, take care.”

_”Always.”_

Jongin hangs up after that and Sehun feels emotionally drained, but he knows the day isn’t over yet.

“Sehunnie,” Jongdae calls, placing a hand on Sehun’s arm.

“I’m fine, hyung,” he reassures, “I’m fine.” He takes Jongdae’s hand in his and squeezes. He turns to Sunyoung. “Sunyoung, could you get all the evidence on a flash drive, please? I need to take it home.”

“Of course, Sehun.” She smiles and gets to work.

He faces Jongdae, who’s looking at him uncertain. Waiting for him to make the first move?

Jongdae looks as pretty as ever, with his curled up lips and his high cheekbones and his sparkling eyes. Jongdae is beautiful to Sehun and he’s still a little bit in awe. But right now, in this moment, he looks at Jongdae and truly sees him for the first time, what little Jongdae has shown and what Sehun guesses he could someday show.

He doesn’t see an ethereal creature, sole possessor of all that’s good and holy and cute, as was his usual fashion until this very moment. He sees someone who’s cute and funny, and has a sometimes much too gentle heart, but who can defend himself, someone who can strike back. He sees someone who can be vulnerable, who can be hurt, but who can also take care of himself.

The first feeling he felt for Jongdae was admiration and the second something akin to adoration. Over the course of one day the way he feels and thinks and talks about Jongdae has changed and evolved and now settled into a sort of peaceful fondness that has the capacity to be _so_ much more. And he wants that. Desperately.

But…

“We’ve barely known each other a day, but I really wanna kiss you, too,” Sehun states, somehow managing the courage to speak first. “But, I also know that we could hurt each other a lot and I don’t wanna hurt you, Jongdae. That’s the last thing I want. And I’ve never done this before, ever. Still, I feel _so good_ when I’m with you. I’d just really like to know you more before we get into anything serious.”

Jongdae smiles that wide crinkly smile that he loves and looks down, shyly, hugging himself, probably a bit embarrassed.

Sehun bites his lip in worry, wondering if he laid it on too thick.

“You are so cute, Sehunnie,” Jongdae gushes, hiding his grin behind his sweater paws. Sehun blushes. “Of course we can do that, we can talk hours upon hours about how and where we want this to go.” Jongdae takes Sehun’s hands in his. “We can hang out as just friends or something between friendship and dating, or neither. I just wanna stay close to you, because you make me feel good, too, Sehun. I feel happy when I’m with you.”

Sehun smiles slow and honest. And he just stares at Jongdae, stares at the guy that makes his heart flutter, but who can also calm it down, can leave him at peace.

He smiles wider and giggles to himself.

“I feel like I’m fifteen again,” he whines, dropping Jongdae’s hands suddenly. “What have you done to me?”

“Yah, you brat!” Jongdae exclaims, taking Sehun’s hands back and placing them on his waist. “You think I don’t feel embarrassed? But you get nothing useful from focusing on things like that. What would you rather do sulk or cuddle with me?” He raises his chin in defiance.

Sehun gapes like a fish out of water for a few seconds before sliding over to Jongdae and back-hugging him.

“Good choice.” Jongdae’s voice is disgustingly smug and Sehun can already tell how much more annoyed he’s gonna be getting every day.

Still, even that he finds endearing, though nerve-grating.

“I know that I’m butting in in an incredibly intimate moment but,” Sunyoung begins, “I just wanted to tell that I’m really happy that you have this chance or whatever and I just – oh, don’t mind me I just need a girlfriend,” she says, abruptly cutting short her rambling.

Sehun hides his face on Jongdae’s neck, feeling self-conscious, while the other just laughs and says thank you.

Jongdae laughs a lot, Sehun has found. He likes it. He wonders if Jongdae, like Jongin, also got abs from just laughing.

“Your flash drive’s ready, it’s the sparkly white one. I’m gonna leave it here and just go out, for a bit,” Sunyoung announces, before walking out of the room.

He smiles against Jongdae’s neck when he hears the door close. He gives Jongdae a quick peck on the cheek and straightens his back, heading over to Sunyoung’s desk.

He pockets the flash drive and once again takes a look around Sunyoung’s office feeling giddy and light-headed and bashful. His eyes land on the monitor he’d been working on and “oh, fuck! I got an asshole to expel!”

“Sehun what are you talking about?” Jongdae asks, looking incredibly confused.

Sehun only feels a little bit bad about it.

“I’ll tell you the story on the bus back home, okay? Now, could you please get Sunyoung to come back here, I need her expertise,” he requests, giving Jongdae his best puppy eyes.

“Ugh, fine!” Jongdae gives in, trying (and failing) to act like he isn’t completely and wildly endeared by Sehun.

_Alright, that might not be completely accurate but he is a bit dramatic after all._

Sehun smiles triumphantly and gets back to work.

He takes off all the filters and quickly scrolls down to Seo Wonseung, head of an important accounting firm and father of Asshole Extraordinaire Seo Jooseung.

“Not that I’m judging you, but what is this stuff about getting someone expelled?” Sunyoung asks as she reenters the room.

“There’s this rich boy threatening a friend of a friend and I was asked to find dirt on him to get him out,” Sehun explains, clicking on Seo’s file.

“And you can’t find it on your own?” Sunyoung is looking down on him, crossing her arms over her chest.

“I can and I have, thank you,” he replies, only slightly offended. “I found a file on his father. I just need you to unlock it for me.”

“Oh, okay, yeah, I can do that,” she says, leaning over Sehun to access the keyboard. With a few commands she unlocks the file and leans back, looking at Sehun with a self-satisfied smile on her lips. “There you go, kid.”

He smiles back gratefully. “Thanks.”

“Let me know if you need anything else, I’ll be gossiping with your man over there.” She points towards the couch, where Jongdae is once again laying on.

His smiles softens, it sweetens. _His man. He could get used to that._

Sehun bites his lower lip and shakes his head, turning away.

He spends the next 15 minutes sorting through the information on the folder, looking for incriminating information. Finding stuff on Jooseung is challenge, but at least he has fun finding out all of his father’s dirty little secrets.

Until, finally, he comes across something interesting. It seems little Jooseung has been buying his assignments for quite a long time now. It’s kind of an open secret that Seo Jooseung hasn’t written an essay on his whole life and instead acquires them either by way of bribing or blackmailing. Having actual evidence is different, though.

“I get the education system is shit but you could be nicer to people, you know,” he mutters, skimming through the emails between Jooseung and his suppliers. “Asshole.” He rolls his eyes at the amount of slurs. Those alone should’ve gotten him expelled, but you know, the world isn’t fair.

He quickly organizes the emails by person and date, also attaching the corresponding assignments to each conversation.

Sehun keeps reading down Jooseung’s folder, letting out a sigh of relief when he finds a document titled _‘final algebra ii’_. “I knew that asshole couldn’t have gotten that award on his own.” He stills seethes at the thought of having had to share the stage with such a dickhead. “Maths Honor Award, my ass.”

He opens the document to make sure that it contains the answers for last term’s Algebra II exam. It does, of course, and he has to take a deep breath to avoid yelling at the screen.

That is not the only exam cheat-sheet on the folder. He goes through them all quickly, confirming that they’re what he thinks they are. He’s not surprised when they all turn out to be exam cheat-sheets, but he still grits his teeth in annoyance. Jongin cried before _and_ after that History exam and in comes this asshole and aces it without any effort spent.

To be fair, it’s not like Sehun actually spends much effort in passing his classes, either, but at least he doesn’t go around blackmailing people into writing his assignments and stealing exam answers for him.

Either way, this isn’t really the crime Sehun wants Seo Jooseung to be expelled for, but it’s the best he’s ever gonna get, so he takes, compiling everything into one separate file and anonymously emailing it to the Dean with Sunyoung’s help.

He makes sure to hide the identities of all the suppliers, except for Kim Soogi. He’s also an asshole who needs to go. Sehun never said he wasn’t biased and really, not wanting to live on the same floor as a homophobic jerk is not a crime.

On Sunyoung’s suggestion he also emails the file to the heads of student organizations and other student influencers and uploads it online, so the Dean will not be able to turn a blind eye on it, no matter how much cash Seo offers him.

He also downloads Seo’s entire file onto another flash drive, just in case he might need it later.

After all this, Sehun finally stands up, stretching his arms and back. His joints pop, making him wince.

“You know, you should really stop falling asleep in weird, places,” Jongdae comments, taking his hand.

“I don’t sleep in weird places, Jongin does that.”

“Yeah? Well, today I saw _both_ of you sleeping under a tree, so I don’t think you have a leg to stand on,” Jongdae counters.

“Y-you, you saw us?” Sehun stumbles over his words, flustered.

“Yeah, you looked pretty cute,” the older one confirms, brushing Sehun’s hair out of his face.

The latter smiles down at his shoes.

“Don’t you have a murderer to catch?” Sunyoung asks teasingly.

“Right!” Sehun exclaims. “Thank you so much for your help, we could’ve never had done it without you.” He bows deeply.

“Anytime!” She beams. “Now on with it, you two. Shoo!”

It’s about 1:30AM when they’re finally on the bus taking them back to Jongdae’s apartment.

They’re sitting towards the back, pressed together and sneakily holding hands.

“So who is this friend of friend who asked you to expel Seo Jooseung? Not that I’m complaining.”

“Namjoon. The dude from the campus coffee shop, he’s also my informant. Apparently Jooseung was harassing one of his friends and then threatened him, so…” Sehun trails off, shrugging.

“See, you have tons of friends,” Jongdae scoffs.

“I—maybe? I don’t know.” Sehun frowns.

“You do,” Jongdae insists. “And just you wait, I bet you Chanyeol and Baekhyun are going to adopt you in a matter of seconds.”

Sehun chuckles, a smile growing on his face. “I guess. Jongin likes you, too, you know? Not romantically, but as my boyfriend.”

Jongdae grins brightly. “I’m happy your best friend approves of this union.”

“Yeah, me too,” Sehun whispers, looking down fondly at their joined hands.

Jongdae gives it a light squeeze in return.

 

 

xxXxx

 

 

They get home soon enough and put both flash drives in a safe place.

Jongdae takes a quick shower while Sehun heats up their long forgotten jjajangmyun.

He’s setting the food down on the kitchen table, too tired to bother with eating in the living room, when Jongdae enters the room, walking directly to the fridge.

Sehun stares at him, immediately noticing the shift in Jongdae’s mood. He bites his lip, willing his brain to put off the alarm signals. It was only to be expected after such an emotionally intense day, but especially considering the last couple of hours.

He turns around, giving his back to Jongdae and finishes setting the table silently.

Once done with that, he walks over to Jongdae as calmly as he can and places a hand on his shoulder.

Jongdae’s head snaps up. His eyes are glossy and his lips are trembling, but he seems mostly composed. He looks tired, though, so very tired.

“Hey,” Sehun whispers, steeping closer, trying to gauge Jongdae’s reaction. The latter doesn’t seem to want nor need physical contact right now, so Sehun limits himself to placing a heartfelt kiss on his forehead.

Jongdae releases a shuddering breath at the touch.

Sehun steps back, getting his hand off Jongdae’s shoulder. “Let’s get some food into you,” he says as he pulls a chair out for Jongdae.

After eating, he cuddles Jongdae to sleep.

He’s mildly surprised that Jongdae lets himself be taken care of so easily. He’s glad, though, to be able to be there when Jongdae needs him. To be able to help when Jongdae asks for it.

He doesn’t fall asleep. Can’t, really, with how much coffee he’s drank. But that’s okay, he has to go get Jongin and the rest of the evidence in a few hours, anyway.

He watches Jongdae sleep, instead.

He relishes in the feeling of Jongdae’s trust. The knowledge that Jongdae feels safe enough around him to let Sehun cook for him, watch his sleep.

Sometimes, Jongdae makes him feel like a kid and others, as cheesy as it sounds, he makes him feel like a man, someone people can rely on.

People depending on him isn’t particularly new, Sehun has always been a bit of a problem solver, but it feels better now, because Jongdae doesn’t seem to trust Sehun solely based on what he can do. Instead, Jongdae trusts _Sehun_.

Or at least he hopes so.

And that’s the thing that keeps nagging at him. They don’t know each other and that’s okay, every relationship begins with the people involved not knowing each other, but there’s an undeniable element of uncertainty that makes Sehun anxious. There’s so much that could go wrong and that scares him.

He takes a deep breath.

Jongdae’s hair smells different now, something citrusy. It’s nice, but he still prefers the other one. He’ll have to ask for the brand later.

With a sigh, Sehun pulls Jongdae closer and begins to mentally construct his essay on _The Decameron_. He hasn’t checked out what aspect of the book they’re supposed to cover on the essay, though, so he very quickly gives up and instead thinks of all the places he could take Jongdae to.

Time flies that way and soon enough his alarm is ringing across the room, volume turned down so as to not disturb Jongdae’s sleep.

Sehun carefully untangles himself from the older one, regretfully leaving him alone on the bed with a kiss on the cheek.

The night is very cold and Sehun can’t afford to get sick right now, making him take the executive decision of grabbing a jacket from the rack by the door. It fits him too well to be Jongdae’s, but he doesn’t want to think too much about it.

He walks to the station, the cold air biting into his cheeks. The city is quiet for once and he relishes in it, not bothering with his headphones.

He reaches the station much too soon for his taste. He can’t back down now, though, not after all that he’s done to get here, not after the stress he’s put Jongin through.

With all the courage he can muster, he pushes the glass door open. As expected, there’s no one at the front desk and he walks through the entrance hall with no trouble.

A quick glance at the clock on the wall tells him it’s 3:36AM, more than enough to put everything back in place and get the hell out of there with the test results.

Sehun knocks on the door leading to the CSI office. Just now, it occurs to him that maybe it would’ve been better if he’d texted Jongin beforehand. There’s nothing he can do about it now, though.

Jongin opens the door a few moments later, looking disheveled.

“Are you okay?” Sehun asks worriedly, stepping into the room. “You look like a mess.”

“I’m fine,” Jongin reassures, smiling at him. “I’m just glad you’re here and are okay.” He places his hands on Sehun’s arms in that way he does when he actually needs a hug but doesn’t think he can ask for one.

Sehun frowns, pulling Jongin into his arm. “What is it, Jongin? What are you really feeling?”

Jongin buries his face on Sehun’s shoulder, holding onto him tightly. “I’m just relieved you’re here. I was so scared Ahn would come and steal the evidence or do something to me or that he would-“ he cuts himself off with a sniffle.

“You know, this is the first time I’ve seen you cry,” Sehun says.

“What are you talking about? We saw Moonlight together. And Miracle in Cell No. 7 – God was that awful, why did we watch that, Sehun? We’re not ma—“

“Okay, I get it.” Sehun interrupts his friend’s rambling. “What I meant was that this is the first you’ve cried in front of me about something not fictional,” he amends.

“I’ll have you know that Moonlight is semi-autobiographical,” Jongin insists petulantly.

“I’m just happy you trust me, you brat!” Sehun exclaims, frustrated. “It’s good to know that your bestest friend in the whole world, whom you love very, very much, feels like he can trust you with his feelings. I’m glad you feel like you can depend on me, too,” he whispers the last part, suddenly feeling shy.

“Oh,” Jongin says dumbly.

Sehun snorts.

Jongin reaches down to pat Sehun’s butt. “I love you too.”

Sehun pulls away from the hug, laughing. “What am I gonna do with you?” He wonders out loud.

“Congratulate me, thank me for the next couple thousands of years,” Jongin suggests, walking over to the desk, subtly drying his cheeks.

Sehun follows.

“I got the results from the hair and we can now place one Yoo Sangjin on the scene. Is that who you got on tape?” Jongin asks, pulling up the killer’s info.

“I could kiss you right now,” is the only thing Sehun can say.

“I’m flattered, but I think you should talk to Jongdae hyung before getting another boyfriend,” Jongin teases. “I’m guessing this is the dude in the video.”

Sehun nods. “Yeah, it’s him. What’s his connection to Ahn?”

“Apparently Yoo Sangjin graduated from the same high school as Ahn’s son. Sangjin did his military service a few years back, that’s why his DNA was in the database. We really lucked out with this one,” Jongin sighs.

“You got copies of all the results?” Sehun asks.

“Yes,” Jongin answers. “I got multiple copies printed of the results from all the tests corresponding to the case. And I also got it all into a flash drive, just to be safe.”

Sehun feels the adrenaline begin running through his body. This is really happening. They got Ahn, they got Jongdeok’s killer, they solved a murder.

“I can’t believe we can officially be called a bunch of meddling kids,” he blurts out.

Jongin almost doubles over in laughter.

Sehun smiles wide. “Don’t you have some cleaning to do?”

Jongin just laughs harder.

Eventually, Jongin does manage to calm down and they put everything back in its place. Leaving no trace of the tests Jongin had done.

It’s just before four and Jongin is checking his bag out, making sure he has everything they need.

“Do you have the samples for the defense?” Sehun reminds him, logging Jongin out.

“Yup.”

“Hey,” Sehun begins.

Jongin turns to face him. “What is it?”

“There’s something that’s been bugging me, a few things, actually.”

“Shoot.”

Sehun runs a hand through his hair. “How do you know they won’t find out you ran this test? Isn’t it illegal for you to have run these tests?”

“No one ever checks the log except me. If any of us needs to pass along test results we just do it in person,” Jongin explains, zipping up his bag. “And I was just doing my job.” He shrugs. “I found some evidence that hadn’t been processed; it’s my job to do it, especially as the only CSI on shift.”

“You’re not even a CSI. And how come you’re the only one on shift, aren’t you supposed to be supervised at all times?”

“I know enough to run these tests properly and there are more samples, anyway, so we’re good on that front.” Jongin begins walking towards the door. “And there was this huge shoot out at the park earlier this evening; they needed all CSI on site. It’s probably still going on. Besides,” he says with a mischievous grin, “I’m not working unsupervised. It’s not _my_ fault Shin likes to sleep on the job.”

“Good,” Sehun says, satisfied with Jongin’s answers. “What do we do now?” He asks, following Jongin out of the room.

“Right now? We go home and take a nap. Or two. I’m _so_ not going to dance practice tomorrow,” he groans, completely ignoring the true meaning of Sehun’s question.

At first, Sehun is confused by it, not quite understanding why his friend isn’t answering him, until he realizes they’re in the middle of the station’s reception and literally anyone can hear them.

He rolls his eyes at himself. _Really, Sehun, try and be more conscious of your surroundings._

He waits by the main doors as Jongin clocks out. There’s still no receptionist at the front desk.

“C’mon,” Jongin says, tugging him out of the door, the same way he did to Jongdae just the night before.

Jongin waits until they’re about a block away before answering. “Last month we had a guest speaker in this law class I’m taking. She was a federal prosecutor. I really liked her lecture, so I searched her on Naver. Turns out she’s been really cracking down on corruption related cases lately. I don’t know if she’s a good person or whatever, but I don’t think this is a case she’d refuse, especially with the amount of evidence we have.”

Sehun steps closer to Jongin when he notices his friend shivering from the cold. “How are going to contact her?”

Jongin shoots him a grateful smile before replying, “I’ve already sent her an email. Hopefully, she’ll answer as soon as possible. Either way, I’m gonna go to her office as soon as I wake up in the morning.”

“Dude, do you realize we just solved a murder?” Sehun really can’t let this go.

“I know, Sehunnie.” Jongin chuckles.

A few minutes later, they get to Jongdae’s apartment. Jongin and Sehun part for the night, then. The first stays in the kitchen heating up some leftovers, while Sehun slips into Jongdae’s bedroom.

He’s down to his sweats and shirt, about to lie down on the bed when Jongdae wakes up.

“Hyung?” Jongdae calls.

You can almost hear Sehun’s heart breaking.

“No, it’s just me, Sehun.”

“Oh.” Jongdae goes quiet for a while.

“You don’t mind me being here, do you?” Sehun asks, not wanting to make Jongdae uncomfortable.

“No, it’s fine,” Jongdae whispers. “I wanna snuggle,” he adds.

“Same,” Sehun says, with a quirk of his lips. He slips fully under the cover, wrapping his arms around Jongdae.

“Did you get everything?” Jongdae mumbles, clearly falling back to sleep.

“Yes, now go to sleep. We’ll take care of everything,” he answers, running a hand up and down Jongdae’s back.

And finally, _finally_ , after the longest day of Sehun’s life, he closes his eyes and falls asleep.

 

 

xxXxx

 

 

Next Monday sees Sehun and Namjoon holed up in the library, trying to finish the essay Professor Park had assigned due the next day.

It wouldn’t be accurate to say that the world has completely shifted due to last week’s event, but both Sehun’s university and the city both have, what with Ahn and his accomplices getting mass arrested on Thursday and Seo Jooseung being suspended from school on Friday, expulsion trial pending.

What really has been a trip, though, is realizing that actually he does, in fact, have more than one friend.

It’s nice, though. Very nice.

He lets his eyes drift towards the front desk, a path they’ve been taking quite a few times since he’s sat down.

Jongdae’s on shift today, managing the late returns desk. He looks bored, pouting down at his phone.

Sehun knows he looks embarrassingly infatuated, but he doesn’t really care. _What use is there in denying the truth, though?_

It’s been really fun, getting to know Jongdae, even though they’ve had a stressful couple of days.

Especially Jongdae. After Ahn’s arrest reporters had harassed him for a little while, until Choi Jimin, the case’s prosecutor and guest lecturer on one of Jongin’s classes, had stepped in and gotten him a restriction order.

Another, happier event that had kept Jongdae busy these past few days was Baekhyun moving into Jongdae’s apartment over the weekend. Both Sehun and Jongin somehow ended up helping with the move, though he’s not complaining, he really did have a lot of fun.

Jongdae’s prediction turned out to be true, also, when Saturday night, after all of Baekhyun’s stuff was in its place, a drunk Chanyeol had declared that Sehun was his new best friend and that they were going to do best friends stuff next weekend.

Sehun has plans, though. He and Jongdae still haven’t had their first date yet, but that’s going to change Friday night. He doesn’t know where they’re going, yet, doesn’t even know who’s planning the date, yet, but he feels excited and giddy at the prospect.

Jongdae is currently fixing his hair aided by his phone screen.

Sehun chuckles fondly, raising his hand to wave at Jongdae when the latter glances his way.

Jongdae waves back enthusiastically, beaming.

_Yup. Sehun is definitely in love._


End file.
